


Pen Pals

by Red_Phoenix_Fyre



Series: Drawing Friends (A series of stand-alones in the same Universe) [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Banter, Canon-Typical Violence, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Clint Barton & Phil Coulson Friendship, Fluff, Hawkeye - Freeform, Humour, Iron Man - Freeform, M/M, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark Friendship, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, there is a bit of angst, you can't get to a happy ending without some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-08-18 11:08:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 31,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8160041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Phoenix_Fyre/pseuds/Red_Phoenix_Fyre
Summary: Agent Clinton Barton has had a lot of soul mates in his time. Writing to them was always interesting, but soon became boring. When his latest pen pal wrote back to him, he expected it to follow the rather predictable pattern.Nothing about Tony was predictable.





	1. Long Distance Relationships

**Author's Note:**

> This honestly started as an idle project of mine to keep me writing but soon became my biggest writing project! I've always had a fascination with Soul Mates and Soul Mate Identifying Marks. 
> 
> This is the longest story I have ever written where I've actually gotten to the end. I am so happy that I finished this one, you have no idea!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has kept up with this and all the new people who've read it. Your comments, kudos and even bookmarks have made a big difference to me <3

The mission was go at 0600. Everything was prepared.

Clint was ready for it to begin.

Sadly, 0600 was sixteen hours in the future, he had already eaten and he was expected to stay in the motel room for the duration of the night.

Tossing the remote aside after finding nothing to watch on TV, Clint slid down the bed to stare at the ceiling.

He could always design those new arrows.

Reaching for the pen that was always present in his pocket, Clint turned his head to look at the bedside table. It contained a pen and a pad of paper. 

Best not to leave any traces behind, so no paper. Besides, this would be an excellent time to test if he had a new pen pal.

Shifting around in the bed until he could tilt his left forearm in such a way to catch the light coming from the lamp that was sitting on the bedside table, Clint contemplated how to start. Deciding on the shaft, he pulled the cap off his pen and began to draw.

Everyone knew that “soul mates” were able to use any liquid that could dry onto skin to write or draw to the person who was matched to them. From ages ten to thirteen people started to gain this ability. You didn't always have a soul mate, or even the same one, but no one could deny that anyone you were able to communicate with through marking your skin was always interesting. 

Some people claimed they never had more than one soul mate, and that the other was their perfect match.

Clint didn't really believe it, but he'd never had the same soul mate for more than a matter of months. It hadn't seemed strange to him, at first, but then the others at the carnival had noticed...

Shoving the memory away, Clint focused on what he was drawing. Using pen meant he couldn't erase his work easily, so he went slowly to avoid making mistakes.

Soon enough he had drawn out the canister on the end of the arrow and labelled it. Idly wondering if his pen pal would be able to understand English this time, he started to map out the calculations of how much pressure the materials that he planned to use could sustain. 

Finishing those, he stared at them and then drew out his phone. The motel had wireless internet. He could check the strength of the alloys he was using and use the calculator app to check his math.

While he did that, he felt pressure on his arm.

Curious, Clint lowered his phone and watched as ink crossed out a few of his numbers and sketched in corrections. 

Amused, he witnessed the other person adding their own notes, modifying his work and suggesting substances that could be used in the canister.

Bitting his lip in thought, Clint looked up the chemicals and found himself smiling. One would produce a gas that could be used as a smoke screen and the other could be used to slow down his opponents. Neither were lethal unless ingested. 

His pen pal was smart and seemed to prefer non-lethal methods to take out enemies.

He twisted the phone around in his right hand as he stared at his forearm. 

The back of his left hand itched so he flipped his arm over to look at it.

Before his eyes the words appeared, _Do you have a name I can call you?_

Smirking to himself, Clint answered under it, _Mysterious Handsome Stranger will do._

_I could call you Mysterious Intriguing Serious Stranger, or M.I.S.S._

Chuckling, Clint replied, _I accept the title as my due. What should I call you?_ It stretched along the back of his arm to get enough space. 

More than a few minutes passed as Clint waited to get an answer, it made him wonder if the other person was busy.

_Tony._

He paused as he stared at the name. It was written smaller than what the other person had said since they started joking. The letters were very clear though.

Seemed like Tony felt very strong emotions about Clint calling him by his name. 

May as well get the next part of the necessary conversation over with then.

_Okay Tony, there are a few things you need to be aware of as my pen pal. I have a job where discretion is necessary. Unless I write there first, no drawing or writing on either arm, neck or face. This does include shoulders. Please also avoid around the collar bone where the skin would be exposed by a shirt._

The writing filled most of his arm with very little space left over. 

Tapping his pen against his lips, Clint eyed what he wrote.

Pressure on his thigh had him wiggling out of his pants to take a look.

_The rest of our bodies can be written and drawn all over?_

Examining the words, Clint really wished tone was easier to interpret through writing. He could do it to some extent, but that always took more exposure. Tony seemed to have emotions that ran deep, it made him hard to predict.

_Yes, as long as it doesn't look like gore, don't want to worry any doctors._

_You drop your pants for doctors often? They better be pretty._

The humour fell a little flat, but Clint grinned anyway, picturing Agent Coulson.

 _Only the best for your pen pal,_ he assured Tony. 

Over all that writing, Clint put, _I need to have everything washed off our arms tonight. Do me a favour and take a shower or something._

On his other thigh came, _As MISS bids, so shall be done._

Snorting, Clint capped his pen and sat up. Swinging himself off the bed, he made his way to the bathroom. It was cramped and done in an ugly yellow with dark floor tiles. The colours made the space feel even smaller.

 _Is it late there?_ Tony wrote under his last sentence.

 _Getting there. Gonna wash off,_ Clint answered.

 _I will too,_ Tony replied as Clint was turning on the shower.

Nodding, Clint waited for the water temperature to adjust.

As he washed, Clint constructed a mental profile for Tony. His interest was definitely piqued by this new soul mate, but that was typical for this stage in the game. He'd had too many experiences with this not to have his general reactions mapped out.

The words he had written faded and disappeared with the cheap soap provided by the motel. It was why he had chosen that pen. He'd tried multiple brands and makes until he found one that was easy to get rid of in most circumstances. 

The details Tony had added to his design looked strange without context. As he studied them, they began to smudge and fade.

Moving out of the water, Clint watched them being washed away. From the difficulty Tony was having getting rid of them, it was easy to come to the conclusion that he didn't have a pen on him for writing to soul mates.

' _He either doesn't get many pen pals or it's been a while since his last one,_ ' he thought.

Shrugging a shoulder, Clint got back under the water to finish cleaning.

 

Waking up, Clint had to resist the urge to draw or write on his body to let his soul mate know he was awake. It was very early even where he was, he didn't want to risk interrupting Tony's sleep.

Once he was geared up and ready to go, he spared another thought for his pen pal, then moved out.

The sun wasn't up yet, which made sneaking up onto the roof much easier. Getting into position, Clint scanned the area with his eyes. 

He was atop a building over-looking a warehouse. His purpose was to be a look out for a mission that would commence when the sun rose higher. At the moment it was enough to provide a sheen of light across the sky.

As his eyes wandered, he went over the mission one more time. 

The objective was to retrieve a weapon and information from the warehouse. Clint was to report anyone leaving the building and to incapacitate them if possible. He was not to pursue anyone. They would have agents posted to do that. 

To keep people from escaping, Clint had arrows that fired a cable to coil around a person's legs. Using them required much of his upper body strength, they were something that was hard to shoot. He also had blunted arrows and a few that would work like tasers. Blunted arrows caused a lot of harm and could kill if they hit the wrong location, electric arrows could potentially stop a heart. It was why he had been looking into other things to use to stop enemies.

Everything had its own risk.

Letting an almost silent sigh escape him, Clint checked the position of the sun, then his watch.

Not long now and the team would be entering the warehouse. 

Over his ear piece, Clint heard the others who were taking up a perimeter checking in. Reporting that it was all clear except the vehicles they had already noted, Clint waited.

The operation went underway without a hitch. Agents entered the building and Clint listened to the infiltration process. Part of Clint wished he was in there with them, feeding off adrenaline and prepared to be shot at. The rest of him was glad to be outside with a bird’s eye view of the situation. 

The only real way he could have helped at this point was if he'd had the ability to see through walls. Lacking mutant powers, Clint kept an eye out for anyone attempting escape.

Soon, and predictably, enough, there was a break in the careful planning. More people were inside than had been originally estimated.

One agent was shot and down. Three people managed to escape the infiltration unit.

Tensing up, Clint flicked his eyes around the exits. A short time later two men came barrelling out one of the exits near him. Each had a weapon drawn. 

Quietly calling out their location, Clint drew and fired two of his blunted arrows in rapid succession. The guns fell from their hands with one of them letting out a sharp cry of pain.

One stumbled to a halt, clutching his arm, but the other made a run for it. Predicting that he'd soon be out of range, Clint drew out one of the arrows containing the restraints.

Taking a deep breath and holding it, Clint stood, sighted and let fly.

The arrow followed the trajectory perfectly, the restraints released and caught the man up. Tripping up as they latched around him, Clint caught a sound he dreaded.

The crunch of breaking bone.

Cringing in sympathetic pain, Clint fired a regular arrow at the feet of the second man, who had started to flee again. 

Knowing he was beat, the guy raised his arms, winced, then held only one on his head.

All that was left now was the third escapee.

Keeping a watch on the two he had taken out and looking for the potential third proved more difficult than he predicted.

The only indication that something could be wrong was the crack of gun fire before a sting of pain burned along his shoulder. 

Biting back a curse, Clint ducked behind cover and said, “I've been hit. I'm not down but we have a shooter. Do not approach the two enemy targets outside, not unless they clear the area.”

“Agent Barton, stand down, a medic is headed to your location,” ordered Coulson.

“If I don't get the shooter, who will?”

“We still have agents within the warehouse, stand down Hawkeye,” Coulson repeated.

“I'm going to take one shot, then I will stand down,” Clint told him, then peeked out from behind cover. A quick scan revealed the location of the shooter, the broken window was clear evidence.

“Barton!” Coulson's tone was warning.

Clint had already sprung up with his arrow pulled back.

Releasing it, he let his body drop down.

As he fell, he heard another burst of gunfire.


	2. That Thing You Really Should Remember, But Don't

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint sometimes forgot things. It could happen to anyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm quite amused that this is so popular. This second chapter coming in so soon is a fluke. I was just having too much fun to stop writing this story just yet.
> 
> To clarify:  
>  _This means writing on a soul mate_  
>  ' _This means thoughts_ '  
> "This means talking"
> 
>  
> 
> (I love the kudos and bookmarks and comments, I'm just amused by the popularity because this one is more for fun than for anything else.)

Scowling at the bandage on his arm, Clint rolled his shoulder. Normally, he wouldn't object to medical aid, but the guy had missed cleaning off some of the blood.

Opening his mouth to request the medic get the blood off before it dried, Clint was distracted.

“Agent Barton! Report to my office in a half hour to explain your actions today. No excuses,” Agent Coulson ordered over the comm. 

Body going stiff with tension, Clint curtly answered, “Yes, Sir.”

Shrugging on a jacket, Clint stood and took a quick look around. Besides his bow and quiver, there was nothing he needed to retrieve. The arrows he fired would be returned in good time, SHIELD had proved to respect his equipment.

He was sure they stole the designs, but no one was as good as he was with a bow, and his lethal ones hadn't been used this time.

Picking up his bow and quiver, Clint hurried away.

He had his orders, no need to stick around.

 

Phil had made him wait before starting his lecture. 

To make matters worse, his soul mate had started writing on him. It made him restless and unable to sit still. Plus, it was on his stomach, which tickled. The sensation made him twitch.

There was also a nagging sensation that he had forgotten something.

Clint barely had to pay attention to get the just of the lecture. ' _Don't do _____ because it endangers you and the team. You should know better because _____. Bad agent. Go sit in the corner._ '

Wait, had he just said that last part out loud?

“Yes you did just say that out loud,” Agent Coulson told him, looking at him with his most unimpressed face.

' _Aw, shit._ '

“I'd suspend you from missions for a time but I know that won't change your actions in the future,” Coulson continued, crossing his arms.

Clint held back the urge to agree. He really had to control this need to spill his guts around Agent Coulson. Phil was his friend, but they were on the job, it was unprofessional.

Straightening from his slouch, Clint tried to appear repentant.

From the look Coulson shot him, it wasn't working.

“If you wanted an obedient little soldier I wouldn't still be part of the team,” Barton pointed out.

Shaking his head, Coulson went for the best way to torture him.

Paper work.

Telling himself whining wasn't professional, Clint accepted his punishment with dignity (he pouted). And left with a barely audible good bye after being dismissed.

 

After hurrying back to his rented room, Clint barely made sure to lock the door before lifting his shirt.

_Is that blood on our arm?_

_Are you okay?_

_Are you in a hospital??_

_please answer_

The writing got more shaky with each word. The last two words were small.

Blinking down at the words, Clint belatedly remembered the medic not cleaning his arm properly.

Sprinting for the bathroom, Clint banged the light on and peeled off his shirt.

' _Shit shit shit,_ ' was the mantra in his head as he turned to look the blood stain over.

What had only been a few bloody trails had been smeared all around by his jacket until it looked far more gory than the original wound. Plus there had to be dried blood under that bandage.

Quickly taking out his pen, Clint wrote on his left forearm, _It's just a graze. It isn't that bad. I'm not even bleeding anymore._

_PEOPLE WERE SHOOTING AT YOU?_

Wincing as he read over Tony's big lettered reply, Clint couldn't help thinking, ' _Wow Barton, I'm amazed at your people skills_.'

The voice in his head sounded suspiciously like Natasha Romanov.

 _I had back-up_ , Clint defended himself, then felt like an idiot.

There were long moments of nothing before Tony finally wrote, _Are you in a hospital somewhere? Is that why you took so long to answer me?_

There wasn't a good way to answer that.

 _My boss took me aside to talk and I didn't feel like sharing that I had a new pen pal yet?_ Clint wrote across his arm, adding the question mark in hopes it would help.

Having people yelling at him through soul marks wasn't too unusual, but that was more normal at the end, not the beginning.

 _Is your boss against soul mates?_ the question seemed far too calm.

 _No, not at all!_ Clint assured Tony. 

_If you wanted us being soul mates to be a secret leaving dried blood all over your arm wasn't a good way to do it. My personal assistant wouldn't believe it wasn't mine until she tried washing it off for thirty minutes._ The writing took up the rest of the clear space on Clint's forearm.

While trying to figure out what he would say to that, his right arm started to bother him. Turning his attention to it, Clint saw something else being written.

 _Hi there, nice to meet Tony's soul mate. You had us worried._ It didn't look like Tony's writing, and was upside down.

The personal assistant?

_You better not have wanted this to stay a secret between only you two_

The writing was still the other person, though the o was smeared as if Tony had grabbed the pen back before the other person could finish.

 _No,_ Clint quickly wrote above that. _My job just isn't_

Taking a deep breath, Clint pressed his fingers against his eyes rather than finishing what he had been writing. 

This was not going how he had wanted it to. Stress knotted his muscles. His emotions weren't much better.

Blowing out a breath, Clint grabbed a cloth and ran it under the tap. Adding soap, he began to wash away the blood that had been smeared around on his arm. He was careful to rinse the cloth of blood, he didn't want to leave behind evidence of an injury.

When he felt writing on his right bicep, it made him turn so he could see it without really thinking about it. The reflection in the mirror showed the second person’s writing.

_We may have started off on the wrong foot. I’m Pepper, I keep Tony from hiding away in the basement and dying from recklessness. Hopefully you have someone who does that too._

Huffing out a breath, Clint dropped the cloth in the sink and picked up his pen. He was verging on amused as well as frustrated.

 _No basement, but I have a team_ , Clint replied on his left hand. 

Capping the pen, he put it back in his pocket and continued rinsing the cloth. 

He did have a team, but the people who actually watched his back were Phil and Natasha. He wasn’t getting into that with Tony's assistant though. Besides, he was running out of skin that was easy to write on. Tony probably wasn’t going to drop his pants for her to write on his legs. 

The touch on his left bicep, under the wound, was feather light. Clint resisted looking at the message until after he had rung out the cloth and set it aside.

_Since neither of you are dying, I’m going to give you some privacy. Bye Tony’s soul mate._

_Bye_ , Clint wrote on his left hand. Talking to someone not his soulmate on his own skin was always strange. 

Honestly, they should have guessed Clint wasn’t at a hospital when a medical professional hadn’t written on his skin. It was a romantic cliche to meet your soul mate after a majour injury caused them to lose consciousness in an ER. 

Clint was too cool to be a cliche. 

Looking over his arms, Clint decided he was at least going to get rid of his own replies, his skin was looking crowded. Using the newly clean cloth and a bit more soap, all his messages were soon erased.

Shortly after he had finished, Tony did the same. This time around his words faded much quicker than before. He must have gotten a new pen.

Not really wanting to talk, but feeling like sharing with his soul mate anyway, Clint started to doodle on his skin. What started out as nonsense scribbles soon transformed into arrows, bows and whatever that thing was that his soul mate was drawing.

It was oddly soothing.


	3. Pen Pals and Meetings...that may or may not happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint has problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really don't know any other way to summarize this. More fluffy Agents and soul mates.

The next day Clint woke to the sound of his alarm in his boxers covered in drawings on every visible inch of skin.

If he had gotten drunk last night he might have suspected tattoos. A lot of it looked smudged though.

Running a hand through his hair, Clint stretched and reviewed what was on the agenda for today.

Catch a flight back to HQ, do paper work.

Stifling a wince as he pulled the scabbing from his graze, Clint rubbed his arm gently.

Not exactly a fun day.

Sighing, Clint got up to take a shower.

Once he was all clean he wrote on his stomach, ignoring anything the words went through: _After you read this, give your body a wash. Your designs are lovely but I want to be the only one seeing them._

Not that Tony had explained any of what was all over him, but he recognized some motors thrown in with gadgets he didn't really have any names for. Circuitry and engineering wasn't his forte. 

That didn't mean he wasn't going to try and find some of this stuff later though, it was pretty.

 

Waiting for the flight team to be ready for him to board was warmer than Clint had expected. That might be because he was wearing a jacket with the collar popped up and gloves though. To complete the look Clint had thrown on sunglasses that glinted purple when the light hit them at a certain angle.

Coulson straightened his already perfect suit as he stopped next to Clint.

“Got a new soul mate?” he asked Clint.

“Yep.” Like he was actually trying to keep it a secret that he had one; take that Pepper. Information about them was just not something he was willing to share, too many people were assholes.

“Anyone I would know?”

“Not sure, haven't looked him up yet,” Clint replied.

“So they're male this time. I can't imagine it taking you long to ID them. Planning on meeting this one?” Phil asked.

“Probably not, you know I haven't bothered to in years,” Clint replied absently, reviewing what Pepper had said. “He also might not go by male pronouns like that one soul mate I had, I should ask before I make a mistake.”

Phil nodded before continuing with the argument Clint knew was coming. “I still think it isn't healthy to not meet your soul mates.”

Stifling a sigh, Clint pushed his sunglasses back up his nose.

“Phil, you know why I don't do that anymore.”

“Clint, I told you we would have your back.”

“It's not my back I'm worried about! Civilians aren't equipped to handle the kind of attention that comes with being my soul mate. You know that. I'm not having anyone else get hurt because of me,” Clint insisted. It was part of the reason he was so careful with every mark on his skin. 

Phil put a hand on his shoulder that Clint was seconds away from brushing off when they were told that they could board.

Picking up the gym bag containing his equipment and clothes, Clint made his way for the jet.

To prevent further conversation, Clint popped earbuds in before he took his seat.

Most of the time Phil was too polite to pull them out of his ears.

This was not one of those times.

After they no longer needed to stay seated Phil sat down next to him.

Resisting the urge to hunch up his shoulders, Clint quickly pulled out his phone. Trying to work it with gloves on was impossible though. He knew Phil was watching him agonizing over whether or not to expose his hands.

Setting the phone in his lap, he slowly pulled each glove off and flexed his fingers. 

There wasn't a single mark on them.

“Are you going to continue to pretend to listen to music or are you going to talk to me?”

Sighing and pulling out the earbuds, Clint turned to meet Phil's eyes with grim determination.

“What is there to talk about? I thought I made my point clear enough already,” Clint argued.

Phil folded his hands in his lap and studied Clint's face for a moment.

“You're not in this alone you know,” Phil told him gently.

Rolling his eyes, Clint shook his head and looked away. He touched his temple, irritated with this situation already.

“That's kind of the point of soul mates, not being alone,” Clint informed him, dropping his hand.

“I don't just mean your soul mate, but I still don't think you grasp the concept properly.”

Scowling, Clint studied Phil, then crossed his arms. “Go ahead then, enlighten me. What part of this concept am I not grasping? Soul mates are supposed to be companions, people to share your life experiences with. The person who will understand where you're coming from at any given time. Isn't that what you're going to tell me?”

“Those things are important, but you already understand all of that,” Phil replied.

“Obviously.” Clint gave him a mock salute.

Phil raised an eyebrow and waited a moment, then continued, “You seem to think they should only share memories and good moments, but they're to make the more difficult times easier as well.” He held up a hand when Clint would have interrupted. “A shared burden is lighter than one carried on your own. You know this Clint. Soul mates are our matches because they can help us with our problems. Make our lives easier.

“I think you're letting your past get in the way of your future. Just because something bad happened to someone else, would you deny your current soul mate the chance at being happy? Because that's what you're doing when you don't give these people a chance to show they can be useful, that they can match you,” Phil told him.

Clint closed his eyes and turned his face away. He picked up his earbuds, slipped them in and slouched down in his chair.

Taking his lack of objection as a concession, Phil let him be.

 

Hours later he had gone from actually listening to music to using paper work to pass the time. Planes that you weren't flying yourself were. So. Boring.

Four of seven forms later, Clint was barely resisting the urge to bang his head against the nearest hard object. If weapons and sealed aerodynamic bodies weren't such a bad mix he would be using everything for target practice. He had already calculated the best way to destroy the lever to the emergency door thirteen times and come to the conclusion that he could do it even without an explosive arrow. A blunted one would do it if he...

The tickle over his hip bone interrupted his train of thought as he came to its conclusion (calculation number fourteen), drawing him back to his soul mate dilemma.

Scanning the interior of the plane again, Clint reluctantly lifted his shirt to look at his hip.

_Being shot at again today?_

Rolling his eyes, Clint pulled out his pen and wrote, _No, doing paper work._

 _Those bows last night, did you design them?_ Tony asked

 _I did_ , Clint answered with pride.

_Do you have body armour that allows for the range of motion you need to use your bow?_

And that was how Tony got Clint talking about armour until the jet landed.

 

Getting back meant more paper work at HQ. The Triskelion looked much like every other office building in Washington, though it contained much more than the average civilian would ever suspect.

Not that Clint was in any of the interesting bits.

Leaning back in his seat, Clint contemplated the ceiling as a means of escape. It had those lift-able tiles and a ventilation system that--

“You haven't submitted your forms yet,” Agent Coulson called from down the hallway.

“Evil dictator,” Clint muttered, wiggling his mouse to get his computer running again.

“I heard that!”

“No you didn't!” Clint yelled back.

He heard Phil laugh as he submitted everything he had completed.

Stretching, Clint decided it was time to look up his soul mate.

His fingers hovered over the keys for a moment, then he typed in 'Tony' and 'Pepper' into the search engine.

The results were immediate.

Tony Stark.

TONY STARK.

His pen pal was Tony Stark.


	4. Tony Reacts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets a soul mate.
> 
>  
> 
> Tony's reaction to what's going on, so we go back to the beginning.

When the drawing first started to appear on his arm, Tony was sure he had accidentally injected himself with something that was changing the pigmentation of his skin.

JARVIS scanned for toxins and it came back negative or inconclusive for anything that wasn't expected.

By the time he had run through those processes and eliminated anything he had done, Tony looked down to see that the effected skin formed an arrow.

Sinking into his chair, Tony stared at it.

Clearing his throat, Tony said, “JARVIS, if you aren't already recording this, you need to start now.”

“As you wish, Sir. Recording was started when you initially began scanning your body,” JARVIS informed him.

“Right, that suits normal procedures. Continue with the programs we were running before this little interruption,” Tony told JARVIS, then focused on the writing on his skin.

He had a soul mate.

It had been years...

He had a soulmate that could use some help with math.

Poking at the skin that had the incorrect calculations, Tony knew he couldn't just leave the mistakes.

Still staring at his arm as if it would all disappear when he looked away, Tony patted down his pockets. When no writing utensils were revealed, he had to look away to see his desks. A quick look around had Tony realizing that he had nothing to write with that used ink. He had JARVIS's programs and pencils for blue prints, but no pens.

Why did he have no pens in his workshop!?

Wait! Pepper had brought him contracts to sign the other day. You needed pens for those.

Scrambling up out of his chair, Tony searched for a pen.

The search led him up out of the workshop and into his house. 

Finally, he found what he needed in the guest bedroom. He was tempted to start writing as soon as he had what he was looking for, but there were no cameras in here.

Pen clutched in his hand, Tony hurried back down to his workshop and sat down.

After testing that it would work on a few pieces of paper, Tony held the tip of it over the first wrong number. He hovered it there as he watched his soul mate finish what they were doing.

Once there was a pause, Tony couldn't help himself. He fixed all of the errors and offered suggestions.

 

Drying his hair off after his shower, Tony reviewed what he knew of his soul mate.

The person was highly intelligent, most likely male and reluctant to share personal information.

Part of Tony could understand that, you never knew who was watching. 

The rest of him craved meeting this other person, and soon.

Looking down at the glowing blue light of his arch reactor, Tony hoped the other person stopped being shy before it was too late.

 

Tony should have become aware something was wrong by the way his arm itched. 

He had just finished a “satisfy the board of directors that I am not insane even as a superhero” meeting (which he may or may not have hurried them all through), so he hadn’t gotten a chance to look at his arm when the marks had first appeared. 

Pepper had insisted on going from the office back to his home with him to go over the things that should have been covered by the meeting. He had tried to put her off but it hadn't worked.

While he was sure Pepper found everything she had to say riveting, his mind kept wandering. 

What was his soul mate trying to say to him?

“Tony?”

“Yes, dear?” he replied.

“Tony are you even listening to me?” Pepper demanded. 

“Of course I am,” he told her with a smile, leaning towards her to touch her hand. “How could I not when accompanied by such a beautiful woman?”

Pepper stared at him for a moment, tilting her head.

“You didn’t hear a thing I said, did you?” she asked. 

“Not a word,” he admitted as the car door opened. 

Stepping out of the car, he quickly hurried towards his front door. 

“You can’t just sign everything I put in front of you, Tony!” Pepper exclaimed in frustration.

“Why not?” Tony asked. “Open up JARVIS,” he said as he typed his password into the app on his phone, causing the front door to open.

“Why not? What do you mean ‘why not’? You’re signing papers that could be anything!” Pepper scolded him.

“You know exactly what they say though,” Tony reminded her absently as he entered his home. He was already stripping out of his coat, which he threw over a chair.

“Yes, I do but--” 

“You wouldn’t have me sign anything I wouldn’t agree with,” Tony interrupted before she could gain steam.

He heard her drop her arms down at his words, though he was too focused on undoing the buttons on his shirt to turn and look.

“As flattering as that is, it seems like an excuse to not bother checking what I’m getting you to sign,” Pepper told him in an irritated tone.

“JARVIS keeps me posted on everything happening in my company. I know what would be in those papers you want me to sign. After...Stane, I’ve been keeping a closer eye on things. Now if you’ll excuse me,” Tony said, realizing he wanted to keep Pepper from seeing what his soul mate had to say.

The guy seemed to want privacy after all, so he would go to the bathroom. 

As he calmly walked away he ignored Pepper calling, “I still need these signed!”

Once the door was shut, Tony quickly threw off his shirt and looked at his left shoulder.

Blood.

It was all blood.

Shock held him immobile for long seconds before he quickly turned on the taps and fumbled for a cloth. Slathering it with soap, Tony tried to wash off the stains. When it didn’t work, he dropped the cloth and stared at his reflection.

His soul mate was injured. The blood was his soul mate's. He needed to find his soul mate.

Striding out of the bathroom, Tony started to say “JARVIS” but stopped himself when Pepper said, “You’re bleeding!”

Saying he had forgotten she was probably still there was rude, so the first thing he said was, “No, I certainly am not.” 

He tried to walk around her but she stepped directly in front of him.

“Tony, you should have said something! If had known you’d gotten hurt I would have--” she stopped talking when he avoided her hands reaching for his arm. “Tony.”

Lifting his arm up out of easy reach, he backed away from her.

“Hey hey, don’t do that!” he said, not sure how else to react. His soul mate was secretive so Pepper shouldn’t be touching the blood marks.

“Tony! I know you could handle it but let me help you! I made you sit through a board meeting while you were bleeding!” Pepper exclaimed.

“Well, you couldn’t have known what was under my shirt so, technically, I’m the one at fault here,” Tony tried to persuade.

A guilty Pepper was far too determined to escape from.

“You are the one at fault here for not letting me know,” Pepper scolded while following his awkward backwards shuffle. “I feel awful for not knowing you were hurt and letting you bleed this whole time. It looks terrible!” 

Tony winced and stopped paying as much attention to where he was backing up into while he defended, “It isn’t that bad!” (His soul mate couldn’t be dying, not now.)

This led to him being cornered. Pepper grabbed his blood-free arm to hold him still while she used her height advantage to look at the other. 

Curse high heels and their putting men at disadvantages.

“It looks like you really hurt yourself this time. How did you do it? Never mind, let’s get it cleaned up,” Pepper ordered, dragging him towards the kitchen.

“I didn't do it!” argued Tony. 

“Knowing someone else hurt you doesn’t make it better,” Pepper snapped back as she positioned him by the sink. “Stay right there,” she ordered, giving him a strict look.

Knowing there was no getting out of it now, Tony crossed his arms and leaned on the counter. He could just explain that it was his soul mate but…

“JARVIS, how’s the search going?” Tony asked, watching as Pepper got out the first-aid kit.

“Chemical or biological?” inquired JARVIS.

“Biological,” Tony clarified.

“Still ongoing, Sir,” JARVIS replied.

Tony stopped Pepper from rubbing the blood with the cloth she had dampened. 

“Tony! It needs to--”

“It isn’t mine Pep,” Tony explained.

“Do not say it’s from your soul mate. I’m not believing you this time,” Pepper warned him.

He would have laughed if the situation weren’t bothering him. He had used it as an excuse before, mostly with grime. It had only been to try getting out of meetings.

Shrugging, Tony told her, “You’re in for a surprise then.”

She narrowed her eyes at him as Tony released her arm. Shaking her head, she gently dabbed at the blood marking him. When that didn’t work after trying for a few moments in different areas, she rubbed harder.

Getting tired of it as she put more effort into it, Tony said, “Ow Pepper.” She was rubbing his skin away.

Pulling her hands away swiftly and raising them she stated the obvious, “I can’t seem to get it off. Maybe I should use something else.”

“Pepper!” Tony said as he grabbed her arm. “Anything else and you'd be taking my skin off. This,” he told her while pushing his left forearm towards her, “isn't my blood. I have a soul mate.”

That's when she finally started to believe him.

 

Later, while he and his soul mate were drawing all over themselves, Tony came to the conclusion that he had to find ways of protecting the other man. He had to be safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? Want to hear more from Tony's perspective?


	5. Poison Makes Everything Better...wait...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iron Man makes an appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note, I have never been to Los Angeles so this bank is very made up.

Tony was driving in Los Angeles when he encountered heavy traffic. It was late in the evening so there should be no grid locks in the city. He could see the flash of lights from emergency vehicles up ahead.

Tapping his steering wheel in thought, Tony said, “JARVIS, what are the police reports saying in the area?”

“There appears to be an armed robbery underway in your location,” JARVIS informed him.

His eyes went to the suitcase next to him. He knew the arch reactor was due for a new core being added but...

“JARVIS, set up a warning system for when I'm running risk of overheating. I'm going to give our officers of justice a hand,” Tony told JARVIS.

“Sir, I would not advise using the Iron Man armour with the core being at these levels--”

“When have I ever listened to your advice?” Tony interrupted, parking his car in a No Parking zone and picking up the suitcase.

“It isn't a common occurrence but that shouldn't discourage you from trying,” JARVIS replied.

“Aw, you really do care J,” Tony said, stepping out of the car and shutting the door, effectively making it so JARVIS couldn't answer.

The sound of shouting made Tony hurry to get the armour on.

Once he was enclosed in it, he leaped into the air and flew to where the action was happening.

“An armed bank robbery, how cliche,” Tony said through his speakers, landing on the steps into the entrance.

“Tony Stark, stand down! We have the situation under control,” one of the officers called out from behind him.

“Really doesn't look like it,” Tony replied, seeing the hostages laying on the floor by the front counter.

“JARVIS?” Tony asked.

“The police have identified five hostiles within the bank. I have located four,” JARVIS informed him, outlining the four people in red on his view screen. “Risk of burn out at 85% and rising.”

“Find the last one, hack the camera system in here if you have to,” Tony ordered.

A bullet glanced off the armour, forcing Tony to brace himself to not move with the pressure. He held back a wince, that would leave a mark.

“Hey, no need to take pot shots,” he told the man who had shot him, raising his hands.

Another person shot him (didn't they get the point that didn't work yet?) making him turn to see the woman who'd done it.

“Lower your weapons,” she ordered him, gesturing at his hands with her gun.

Tony spread his fingers. “I don't really think you're in the position to tell me what to do. Why don't we all lower our weapons and go and talk to the nice officers outside. They're here to protect us after all. No need to be scared.”

She swore at him in what JARVIS informed him was German and highly insulting, and stalked towards the people on the floor.

“That's not how this is going to work,” Tony said, using his targeting system to shoot the guns out of the hands of all four people visible.

When the woman went for the gun with her other hand, Tony hit her with a repulsor blast.

Thinking that he'd have to install something magnetic to help him retrieve guns, Tony strode into the bank with the police rushing in behind him.

“Now where is your last buddy? We wouldn't want him to miss the party,” Tony said.

As he spoke one of the robbers pulled a knife on an officer.

Firing a repulsor blast made the man stagger away.

The knife skimmed across body armour harmlessly, then another officer stepped in.

“Sir, the police reports say the last hostile is escaping out a back entrance. She has a hostage,” JARVIS informed him.

A map appeared over his display with a course plotted to get him to the location.

Tony shot into action, flying out the entrance and into the air.

Less than a minute later he was hovering over the bank.

The woman had her victim driving the car away at gun point. 

The police had to let her leave or risk harming the civilian.

“Sir, the core is--”

“JARVIS, this won't take long,” Tony told the AI. He sent himself in pursuit of the car. “I'd make a cliche comment about taking out the trash, but we both know I'm better than that.”

“Of course you are, Sir.”

Sarcasm was always better in a British accent, Tony reflected as he flew over the car.

He had to save the hostage, catch the criminal and not let anyone be killed by the vehicle.

Should be easy.

Readying his targeting system, Tony put on an extra burst of speed. Pulling ahead of the car, he fired at the robber's gun while grabbing the car's hood.

The man behind the wheel yelled and jerked at the steering wheel.

Cursing, the woman opened the car door and took off. 

A car clipped her as she ran, throwing her towards the sidewalk.

Releasing the car, Tony fired his repulsors and landed next to the injured woman.

“Give up yet?” he asked her.

She cursed at him from the ground, clearly unable to get up.

“Sir, using armour much longer is inadvisable. Your current core is reaching critical levels,” JARVIS told him.

“Do we have enough juice to make it home?” he asked.

Calculations appeared across his display.

“That course of action is not recommended,” JARVIS answered.

“Learn to live a little, J,” Tony answered, then took off.

 

By the time he made it home the repulsors were sputtering instead of going steadily. There was a burning sensation that was centred around the arch reactor but spread out through his body that was also quite worrying.

Stumbling into his workshop from the garage entrance, Tony made the armour retract.

Dum-E greeted him with a whir and Tony patted him absently as he forced his body to move. He barely made it to his desk where the spare cores were before his vision blurred out. Bracing himself there, Tony blinked repeatedly as his blood beat loudly in his ears.

Panting for breath, Tony fumbled for the cores. His eyesight came back enough for him to focus.

Fumbling out a replacement, Tony dropped himself into his chair. Tony took the arch reactor out with practised motions, but then his vision greyed out.

' _Heart-attack while being poisoned_ ,' he thought inanely.

He wasn't really aware of what came next, nor how much time passed before he became lucid again.

Sucking in a tired breath, Tony carefully reached for the drink he kept a steady supply of. Gulping down the nasty mix, he tried to ignore the flavour. Gagging a bit, Tony closed his eyes.

At least the hostages hadn't been harmed.

Putting the thermos down on the desk (and missing, that sounded like it hit the floor) Tony covered his eyes.

“JARVIS, make a note, never do that again,” Tony said.

“Noted Sir,” JARVIS answered dryly.

His arm itched, drawing his attention.

Looking at it, Tony read, _Why are there squiggly lines on my sternum?_


	6. Problem Solving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Clint have different methods for solving problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note, the perspective will change from Tony to Clint, indicated by the ***************

' _Well, it could be worse, MISS could be here to call me out instead of...wherever,_ ' Tony thought to himself.

Bracing himself for a moment, Tony closed his eyes. Moving took so much effort.

Blowing out a breath, Tony pulled his shirt over his head, then looked down at his chest. As he suspected, the lines were already fading slowly, not that there had been many of them.

' _Of course my soul mate had to be observant enough to notice while they were still there_ ,' he thought.

When they had faded to nothing, Tony fumbled out his pen and carefully wrote, _What lines?_

_You're a genius Tony, don't play dumb._

_Flattery will get you everywhere_ , he tried to use to distract, his unsteady hand made the words shaky. Obviously not his best work, but he did come close to dying there.

 _Tony._ Underlining, that was new, and probably bad.

He ran a hand through his hair, and decided to go with the best information first.

 _I'm Iron Man_ , he told his soul mate.

_I know, don't try to change the subject from the squiggles here._

Tony stared at the words.

 _Don't think I'm going to disappear if you wait, strange lines that appear and fade away are not going to be forgotten._

_How long have you known?_ Tony asked.

 _The third day after we started talking? About a month and a half. Now get to the explaining part_ , his soul mate demanded on his stomach.

 _I will after you tell me your name_ , Tony answered, feeling like he was at a disadvantage.

_I'll tell you my name after you explain._

_Fine, but you'll always be MISS to me_ , Tony replied then after a space started again. _I need the arch reactor in my chest to live. The current core has emissions that have proven harmful to the human body. I have it under control, I'll come up with a solution. I do have contingency plans that I'll enact after the Stark Expo, don't worry about it._

_What I'm getting from this is “MISS, I'm dying. Don't worry, it's fine.” If I told you I was dying would it be fine?_

Tony let himself go limp in his chair and tried to force himself into the proper mindset to deal with this.

When he felt more writing, Tony looked down at his abdomen tiredly. _Have you asked for help with your problem?_

Tony scratched at the words for a moment, then pointed out, _No one else knows this technology better than me, I invented it._

 _New people means new ideas_ , MISS suggested.

 _Also means they can steal it and use it in weapons_ , replied Tony. He had thought about it, but that was putting a great number of people at risk, not just himself.

 _I explained the “squiggles,” tell me your name_ , Tony wrote.

_Clint Barton._

The name meant nothing to him, but that wasn't really unexpected. He'd been looking for his 'Robin Hood' everywhere. Unless the guy had been hunting when he was shot he used his bow for his work. From their conversations Tony had gathered that it was covert and rather dangerous.

His soul mate must work for one of the alphabet agencies. Tony was betting on SHIELD. He'd have to try and find his way past their security system to get information.

 _Why didn't you tell me you knew who I was, Clint?_ Tony asked.

 _Didn't seem relevant. I have to go, please wash off your arm. Don't die_ , Clint ordered.

 _Yes, dear_ , Tony answered. He then pulled open a drawer and took out the wet wipes and a cloth. Taking off the words with a wipe he got rid of the smears left behind with the cloth. 

Over a month had given him plenty of practice at this.

 

**************************************************

 

Clint not only didn't want his soul mate to die, he wanted to save Tony Stark.

A month of getting to know the other man had given him perspective of the genius, billionaire, that made him like Tony. He was funny, sarcastic and cared far more than he let on.

Finding out the guy was rich and famous had been a shock. The Iron Man part was pretty cool. Having his soul mate as someone in the spotlight made his job a little complicated.

There had been that meeting with Fury after all...

Getting called in by the head boss man was always slightly intimidating. Being told that the guy knew who his soul mate was... hadn't made his day. At least he had sworn that it wouldn't be information put in the system anywhere. Nick just wanted Clint to mention it if Tony needed any help. He was a high profile target and being considered for the Avenger's Initiative.

Clint hadn't felt the need to share any information, until today.

Pulling out his phone, Clint made a call.

“Natasha? I may need to call in a favour.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be taking a break from this story for a while. I want to get into my other world again. I have a seven day vacation though so I may get to do both!


	7. Subtle? What's Subtle?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and SHIELD

Tony could easily say he never would have predicted that he’d be having this conversation today.

“You’re leaving in three days for a trip to Europe,” he repeated.

“Yes, boss. I told you, one of my buddies at the gym won a trip for four to go. He invited me. The plane leaves in three days,” Happy explained.

Folding his arms and ducking his chin down, Tony asked, “Do you have a replacement? Because I don’t think I can spare you for a month.”

“Come on, I’ve been the butt end of jokes for the past month. ‘Iron Man’s body guard?’ It’s not like you really need me,” Happy replied.

“I’m not always in the suit,” Tony answered, looking up at his friend from where he was seated at his desk. 

They were in Tony’s office in California, with the sun shining in on them from the windows at his back.

Scowling at him, Happy told him, “It’s really last notice to be finding a replacement boss.”

Sighing, Tony straightened in his chair. “I’m sure there’s a replacement to be found somewhere. I won’t keep you here against your will. Despite what many would say I’m not, in fact, an evil dictator.”

Happy’s expression cleared and he gave Tony a small smile. “Thanks, I’ll look around.”

The next day Tony was looking at the only file that had passed the tests for someone to be working with him. Flipping it open, Tony stared at the picture of the red head inside.

At least she would be easy on the eyes.

 

“Where to Mr. Stark?” Natalia Rushman asked.

“First rule, don’t ever call me Mr. Stark. Tony, Iron Man and ‘amazing billionaire genius’ are all acceptable alternatives. Second, weren’t you given my itinerary?” Tony asked, settling into the back seat of the limousine. It was his least favorite vehicle, but it had its uses.

“I was, but I’ve been led to believe you like making side stops even when it makes you late for your appointments,” Natalia replied through the lowered partition between them as the car began to move.

Smiling slightly, Tony pulled out his phone. “That might be correct, but there’s no need to be late this time around,” he answered while cuing up his play list.

Music started playing as Natalia replied, “Looks like you might even be early.”

“Tony Stark being early is obviously such a shock,” Tony said in amusement.

“Not what I expected for my first day,” she answered, making Tony grin.

“I’m full of surprises,” he agreed, changing the song before tucking his phone away. “What made you decide to be a body guard slash chauffeur?”

“A friend convinced me it’d be a good idea,” replied Natalia as she merged into traffic.

“Doesn’t sound like a good reason to base a life decision. You made a very good underwear model though, loved the poses I found online,” Tony told her with a grin.

Her only response was to look at him through the mirror with a raised eyebrow before looking away and closing the partition. 

Chuckling slightly, Tony glanced out at the buildings they were passing in Washington, DC. He had gotten what he wanted, visiting SHIELD headquarters. They weren’t likely to lead him to any of the interesting bits, but he just wanted in the door.

It had taken him far too long to have them agree to his terms, the Stark expo was only a week away and the lines on his chest were now permanent reminders of how much time he had left. It was only through force of will that he hadn’t begged his soul mate to come and meet him. Clint didn’t seem to be handling the situation well either.

Rubbing at his chest, Tony wondered if Clint would at least come to his birthday party. It might be his last.

 

The drive through the early morning traffic was uneventful but slow, forcing Tony to try and occupy himself on the way there. If flying there in the suit had been feasible he would have preferred to travel that way. It was too much like a threat though, and he hadn’t wanted to put their backs up this early.

Agent Coulson was there to greet him at there door.

“Agent!” Tony greeted him with his arms spread wide like they were going to hug. “So good to see you looking all stiff and formal. What’s the occasion?”

Agent Coulson stared at him for a moment, looking, perhaps, vaguely amused. “I could ask you the same thing. We were under the impression that you weren’t taking any more defense contracts.”

Tony dropped his arms and strolled over to where Agent stood. “That’s what we’re here to discuss, though a more private setting might be appropriate.”

“We could never have anything inappropriate happen to Tony Stark,” Agent Coulson replied, leading the way into the building.

A reluctant half smile curled his lips as Tony followed inside with his hands tucked in his pockets. 

It had far more glass than he had been expecting, but it was likely made of the same materials that armoured vehicles sported. The drive up to the front had impressed him, the bridge was a nice artistic touch but also gave the building the feel of a castle defense. That and the layout that he had been able to see made him think there was far more to this place than the casual observer would think.

Agent Coulson led them into a conference room where the head man himself sat with a woman beside him.

“Nick! So good to be seeing you again!” Tony greeted as he dropped himself into a chair.

Fury eyed him for a second before answering, “I’m reluctant to say the same. Having you here makes me worry about things exploding. Iron Man isn’t exactly subtle. This is Agent Maria Hill,” he told Tony, gesturing at the woman, who nodded at Tony.

Tony grabbed at his heart as if shot. “You wound me. The gold and red are very subtle. They even shine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this took me longer than expected. Going from vacation to working again was not easy, and I am definitely sick. That being said, I think we're coming close to the ending here. A few more chapters, but I can see the finish line


	8. Clint and Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course Clint wouldn't be far away if his soul mate was visiting.

Clint snorted at Tony’s words, watching Phil take the only other free seat. This put Phil across from Hill and Fury.

Clint knew exactly why Tony had insisted on meeting with the SHIELD staff here, he wanted access to their secured servers to find out more about his soul mate. 

Still, the meeting proceeded as if they were unaware of Tony’s objectives. Nick presented a number of projects that they would like Tony to collaborate with them on. Some were weapons, which Tony flat out refused. Others were vehicles which he seemed more inclined to take on, but wouldn’t give his word about either way. The final one was body armour, which brought a flicker of a strange expression to Tony’s face.

Grinning, Tony tapped the file and said, “This one is like asking me to make poor replicas of my beautiful design. You don’t expect an Iron Man from me do you Nicky?”

Fury crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “What I expect from you is varied, but it rarely leads to anything I see as productive.”

“Oh, ouch. Is that any way to persuade me to take on your projects dearest?” questioned Tony with an amused expression.

Fury raised an eyebrow, then waved his hand. Taking the signal without a word, Agent Hill and Agent Coulson rose from their seats and headed for the door.

Tony was eyeing them in confusion but Fury drew his attention.

Clint didn’t catch what he said next, but pushed off the wall he’d been leaning against and exited the room. He met Natasha in the hallway and they shared a speaking look. Glancing at the retreating backs of Agents Hill and Coulson, he entered the door they had left open.

“--other motivations could I possibly have to come all the way here for?” Tony was asking as he entered.

“Don’t play coy with me Stark. Besides, I’m feeling generous enough to be helpful,” Fury informed the other man before gesturing to Clint, who was standing by the chair that had been vacated by Coulson. “Meet Agent Clint Barton.”

Tony whipped around to face him. Meeting his brown eyes made heat flash through Clint’s body. Forcing himself not to show his physical reactions, Clint offered his hand.

“Good to finally meet you, Stark,” Clint told him, drinking in his features.

Slowly rising from his chair, Tony turned to face him. “It’s a pleasure,” he murmured, taking Clint’s hand.

A spark of pleasure shot down his arm and Clint couldn’t help his smile. 

“You have to call me Tony though,” Tony informed him, squeezing his hand. “I think ‘Stark’ is a bit too formal for soul mates.”

“I know you’ll call me Clint,” he replied as they let go of each other.

“No, I don’t think so,” answered Tony, making Clint’s stomach drop.

Had he offended his soul mate that much…?

“I’ve become rather attached to MISS,” he continued seriously.

Clint burst out laughing, causing Tony to grin.

“As touching as this is, we still have topics to cover,” Fury interrupted, making the smile drop off Tony’s face.

Turning to face Fury, Tony asked, “If you knew what I was after all along, why the pretenses?”

“I could ask the same of you Mr Stark. Regardless of my reasoning, we’re all here now. Let’s get to the real program,” he said.

Following his lead, Clint took the chair next to Tony’s as Fury pulled a file out of his suit case. Dropping it on the table, he slid it towards where Tony had been seated.

When his pen pal didn’t immediately sit down, Clint glanced up at him. Tony met his eyes, then reluctantly sat down.

“What’s this?” Tony questioned as he flipped it open.

“Our current information on the poison effecting you at this very moment. We have our people working on a way to keep you from dying, but we could use some more data from you first,” Fury told him, leaning his elbows on the table and clasping his hands together.

Tony’s expression instantly closed off as he straightened in his chair. Turning to face Clint, he said, “For someone who’s been so insistent about not showing our marks from each other in public, you sure do seem to share a lot of information with others.” 

Clint met Tony’s stoney gaze with his own determination.

“I don’t want you to die,” he informed his soul mate.

Pushing up out of his chair, Tony told them, “We’re done here.” 

Grabbing his wrist, Clint said, “Tony, wait.”

Shaking his grip off, Tony stalked out of the room.

Springing up out of his seat, Clint hurried after him. “Tony!”

Natasha grabbed him before he could make it very far. “You’re only going to make it worse, Barton. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

Dropping his head down, Clint took a deep breath. “You’re right. Don’t let him out of your sight Nat,” the last came out as a plea.

“You know I won’t,” she murmured, then shoved him away.

Staggering a bit at the unexpected aggression, Clint watched her leave.

' _There goes another one that will move on to another soul mate_ ', he thought wearily. ' _At least he’ll be alive_.'

Sighing, Clint started off towards his office. When he got there, Phil was leaning against the wall just outside.

“How did it go?”

Clint grunted in reply, shoving open his door.

“That bad?”

“Worse,” Clint said, slumping into his chair. He covered his eyes. “How did I ever let you convince me that meeting this one would be a good idea?”

Phil put his hand on Clint’s shoulder. “You did what you had to.”

“It doesn’t seem like it’s doing us any good,” he replied, facing his computer and wiggling the mouse.

“You’ve only just put things in motion, you don’t know how it will go,” argued Phil.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve seen me have a soul mate Phil, you know it’ll end soon,” he answered tiredly.

“It will if you just give up,” Phil said in an annoyed voice, his hand leaving Clint’s shoulder.

“I’m not giving up!” Clint snapped, “I just know what comes next.” 

He typed in his password on the computer and refused to look up at his friend’s disapproving face.

“That sounds exactly like giving up. You may think otherwise, but I know you. Clint Barton is a quitter when it comes to soul mates.”

His entire body went stiff at the words.

“Get out.”

Phil put something on his desk, then did exactly that.

Twenty minutes later, after he had stopped fuming quite so much, Clint looked at the paper Phil had left behind. It was a phone number that he could remember Tony writing on their skin before.

Tony’s phone number.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still sick, but this chapter was begging to be written. All the comments, kudos and bookmarks really helped for motivation too <3


	9. Dinner doesn't Have to be a Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Natalia go out.

This was not how it was supposed to go.

He hadn't had everything planned out, but he'd had some idea of how he wanted things to go after he left SHIELD's bat cave.

Pacing his hotel room, Tony tried to figure out how exactly he was supposed to fix this.

A sharp beep from his phone reminded him that he had left behind the device to hack into SHIELD's systems. Letting out a sigh he dropped into one of the chairs in his hotel room and took out his phone.

A message from JARVIS reported the device's success. 

Staring at it broodingly, Tony wondered what he'd search their servers for now.

Slipping the phone back into his pocket, Tony sprung to his feet and was at the door that joined his to the one next to it in seconds. Knocking solidly on it three times he waited for an answer impatiently.

It took far too much time to open, revealing Natalia's rather expressionless face.

“Can I help you?” she asked, raising one eyebrow.

“We're going out, for dinner. Right now,” Tony supplied in pieces. His mind was still racing, and not in a way that made him feel like speaking.

Her other eyebrow rose to join the first.

“It isn't a date,” Tony explained in exasperation. “Just go get the keys for the rental and drive me to a restaurant we can eat at. Yes you will be eating with me, I hate my body guards staring at me while I eat.” He waved his hand in a shooing motion and turned to get his sun glasses.

There was no need for a jacket, it wasn't cold enough for it.

 

A short time later Tony was seated at a restaurant the clerk had recommended as it was discreet. They were sitting away from any other patrons on a covered balcony. There weren't many people around, since it was two in the afternoon.

It had been hours since Tony had seen Clint and he still felt more than a little betrayed by the other man. Neither of them had written to the other since then, but that wasn't uncommon for this time of day.

Tony was actually checking his emails at the table. He normally avoided work while eating unless it was a meeting, but he needed something to occupy himself.

“If you scowl much more the waiter might think he's not getting a tip.”

Abruptly pulled from his thoughts, Tony looked across the small round table to where Natalia sat with one hand on her water glass, watching him.

“He's hardly started serving us, we only just ordered,” Tony pointed out, but he slowly set down his phone, eyes on Natalia's blue ones.

Natalia quirked an eyebrow, she could say a lot with very little expression. “An upset customer rarely treats the service staff well,” she responded, tilting her head slightly as she studied him. She dropped her eyes before continuing, “No matter what went on earlier, you shouldn't let it negatively impact anyone who doesn't deserve it.”

Tony crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, eyes still on his dinner companion.

“I'd like to think I'm better than that. I haven't treated you poorly yet,” Tony answered.

“You've been rather curt,” Natalia supplied, looking at him through her lashes before scanning what she could see of the room with her eyes.

There was a pause while Tony briefly looked out the window before looking back at her. “I'd apologize, but you don't seem upset by it. I can't promise it won't happen again. Difficult circumstances arise all the time.”

Natalia turned her body to face him fully, her eyes once again studying him. “I'm not asking for an apology or a promise you can't keep,” she replied. “I'm pointing out actions that you have taken and could take with how they might affect another. I know how I would like you to use the information, but I'm only pointing it out.”

Eyes narrowing, Tony studied her expression more closely. It felt like they were talking about two different topics.

' _What is she hinting at?_ '

The waiter returned with their drinks, breaking up the conversation. Tony was careful to at least keep his expression neutral as he spoke, and even managed a slight smile before the other man left.

“The friend that convinced you to try being my bodyguard, you two must be close. Anyone I would know?” Tony asked.

Tucking her hair behind her ear, Natalia watched her hand as she set down her glass. “Not anyone you would have met more than once,” she answered with a smile, meeting his eyes. “We are very close.”

“How did you meet?” questioned Tony.

Natalia looked away and toyed with her glass.

“It was a long time ago. I was in a bad place and he helped me out. For a while I wasn't very grateful, but he's a good man,” she answered. “How about you? I've heard you and Ms Potts are close. How did you meet?”

His lips curling slightly in response to the memory, Tony replied, “She was hired by management to help keep me in check. I thought she'd be easy to pass along to someone else who'd be more grateful for the help of an assistant within a month like everyone before her. Somehow she managed to stick around.”

“Sounds like a keeper,” Natalia commented as she watched him.

“She is,” Tony answered, lowering his chin until all he could see was the red place mat in front of him and the white table cloth. “She could run the entire company if she didn't also need to look after me.”

“Pepper Potts as CEO of Stark Industries? I could see it. She certainly seemed competent when she interviewed me,” Natalia responded.

Tony chuckled slightly and picked up his wine glass, gazing at the yellow liquid inside of it.

“She's beyond competent,” Tony answered warmly. “I wouldn't have been able to organize the Stark Expo without her.” Shaking his head, Tony changed the subject, “Do you have any particular interests?Yoga? Martial arts? Perfecting your poker face to lie to cops about where you stashed the last man you murdered for grabbing your ass?”

A smile curled one corner of Natalia's lips then she shook her head, letting the smile grow. “Martial arts isn't too far off. I like staying in shape. I go to gun ranges sometimes, but that's more necessity than an interest. Shopping. I enjoy buying things for myself. I always get myself the best gifts after all.”

Chuckling slightly, Tony felt himself starting to relax. “Pepper feels the same, about buying what she likes anyway. I'm bad at dates. She's been with me for years and I still forgot to get her something for her birthday.”

“Genius, billionaire, super hero... bad at dates. It's amazing you get anything done at all,” Natalia said lightly.

Checking her expression to make sure she was teasing, Tony felt his shoulders rise and fall with amusement. Picking up his wine glass and eyeing it, he confessed, “Bad at dating in general as well. I'm rarely out with anyone who isn't in it for the money.” Quirking an eyebrow, he tipped his glass in her direction as he met her eyes. “Hired help.”

Gently setting down her own glass, Natalia studied him with a serious expression. “You don't think it's your charming personality?” She looked vaguely curious.

Flashing his press smile, Tony spread his arms. “Who needs charming when you have looks?” He wiggled his eyebrows and she quirked a small smile.

Letting his arms drop he brought his glass back to the table, his expression falling back into whatever it had been before. 

He'd been hoping that tomorrow he'd be able to find his soul mate and present himself at Clint's doorstep. Surely he would have accepted going out together on the last day Tony was in Washington before he had to fly out for the Stark Expo. Final preparations would take up the rest of his time until after the opening.

It seemed like Natalia guessed where his thoughts could be going since she said, “You'll be busy this next week, the Stark Expo promises to be interesting.”

Raising an eyebrow of his own, Tony answered, “I didn't know your interests included sciences.”

Running a hand down the front of her suit jacket, she toyed with edge while she answered with a slight smile, “I enjoy my creature comforts, but that doesn't mean I don't have a brain.”

Raising a hand to his chest Tony replied, “A woman after my own heart.” Dropping his hand away, he crossed his arms again. “I'll be busy, and so will you. Lots of driving and watching in your near future. Do you prefer back stage or front row seats?”

“I'll be satisfied with being out back, you'll spend more time back there anyway.”

“Are you implying I have nothing to show?” he asked with an amused quirk of his lips.

“Tony Stark doesn't have anything to show off?” she questioned while raising a hand to the top swell of her left breast. “The world must be coming to an end.”

Snorting, Tony grinned and let his arms relax. “You caught me. I love being the centre of attention.”

Letting her arm fall to her lap, Natalia studied him rather than making another joke. “You aren't exactly what I was expecting.”

“Being on time was that shocking?” he asked, feeling his smile slipping.

Shaking her head, Natalia picked up her drink—pomegranate juice, no alcohol while working—and took a sip.

“No, I expected more...flash. You're not as egotistical as I expected,” she answered.

Tony stared at her a moment. “I'm not sure whether to be insulted or not.” He gestured at her with his right hand. “Back handed compliments are your thing, I can tell.”

She smiled and tilted her head. “I think I like you after all, Mr Stark.”

He clutched at his heart. “And here I thought we were getting along. Tony, really. I hate 'Mr Stark.' It makes me think of my father, who, obviously, isn't here,” he said, with a wide gesture and show as if he was checking just in case.

“I think we all know that your father is gone, Tony,” Natalia pointed out.

He was saved from answering by the arrival of their food.

They spoke about Stark Expo events and presentations for the rest of the meal. Tony outlined when Natalia would be expected to be around and when he'd have her driving him. Their over all schedule tended to be quite full.

Before they separated into their rooms at the hotel Natalia paused and turned to him.

“Is there any reason we're here for the entire day tomorrow?” she asked. “I know it's your last day before you have so many events planned. I was curious why we weren't spending it in New York.”

Tony had paused at the unexpected question. He had to swipe his card for the room a second time to get it open because it had timed out before he started moving again.

Holding the door open slightly he didn't turn to face her as he said, “I thought I might have plans here, but I think they fell through. Good night. I'll order room service for supper. You should too, it'll be on Stark Industries.”

Shutting the door on her reply, he leaned against it for a moment. 

There hadn't been any feeling of someone writing on his body yet.

Checking the time, he saw it was just past five.

There was still time.

Pushing away from the door, he went to sit on the couch, where his laptop was set up on the coffee table.

Time to lose himself in designs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally over most of my sickness. Now I have a busy work week ahead of me instead (six days in a row!). So my next update may take a while as well.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this!
> 
> What's the general name for this ship? I honestly don't know and that threw me off while I was talking to a friend. Anyone know?


	10. Gaining Forgiveness should be Easier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint may or may not be an ass, but he admits to nothing.

Clint received an email that he instantly knew was from Natasha, even though it was from an address that didn't receive emails back and disappeared a week later.

“ _Answer the phone_ ,” was all it said.

He was sitting in his tiny apartment, in the dark. There was no reason he hadn't turned his lights on, except that it seemed like too much of an effort to get up from his chair. Eyeing the path to the nearest light switch, he considered the fact that he needed a desk lamp. It would solve this whole problem of the sun setting when he wanted light thing.

Before he summoned the effort to move, his cell phone rang. 

He didn't recognize the number but he answered it anyway saying, “You have reached Francis Barton's Funeral Services, you stab 'em we slab 'em.”

There was a significant pause before she spoke, making Clint want to snicker.

“What are you doing to your soul mate?” she demanded, instantly killing his amusement.

“Come on Nat, is that any way to greet a friend?” he asked, swivelling around in his computer chair. “I'm not doing anything. He's the one that walked out before I could say a word to him.”

“He wouldn't talk to you in HQ while in front of your boss, Barton. That's comparable to being polite when surrounded by spies,” she informed him, her irritation clear in her voice.

Dropping his head as he leaned forward, Clint rubbed the back of his neck. 

“You're saying he didn't want SHIELD to know about our relationship problems,” he said.

“For a spy you're not very good at reading your soul mate,” Nat replied.

Curbing the urge to snarl at her, Clint managed to say, with far less resentment than he felt, “That doesn't mean he isn't still mad at me Nat, he hasn't even drawn on his skin tonight.”

He would know, he's sitting in the dark in only his underwear, as if it would hide his blemish-free skin. Staring at it while it was still light had proved futile after all.

“You're very lucky I'm in public or this would be a different conversation,” Nat said so sweetly he knew she meant it.

“I'm so sorry you have to endure the eyes and ears of others while lecturing me,” he drawled back.

“Your soul mate expects you to write to him first. You made the mistake, you fix it.”

“Hey, I was—”

The line went dead, she must have hung up after she had finished speaking. Pulling his phone away from his ear and scowling at it, Clint considered what she had said.

She might have a point...

Without looking, Clint reached back and grabbed his pen. Uncapping it and sticking the cap on the other end, he stared at his forearm.

Well, no better time than now.

 _I'm sorry_. He wrote it in larger letters than usual.

Unable to sit still with the words now on his skin, Clint got up and turned on the lights, then went to his “kitchen.” There wasn't really any division between it and the space he had been sitting in. It had the fridge though, so “kitchen.”

Taking an apple out of the fridge, he went back to his chair and stared around the room broodingly. Tony would get the message. Fights had to last a couple days at least before pen pals switched.

Looking at his ugly but comfortable couch, he tried to picture Tony sitting in it. It turned out to be impossible for him to imagine Tony in his “home” at all.

Rubbing his face, Clint wondered what that said about him.

The moment Clint felt the tingle on his skin he watched the words appear under his own. _So you didn't lose all your pens then, I was beginning to wonder_. 

Wincing when Tony's meaning became clear, Clint knew Natasha had been right.

 _I thought you wanted space_ , replied Clint.

_We've had plenty of space from the beginning. What I wanted was honesty._

_I've never lied to you_ , Clint told him.

_You've never shared as much as I wanted either. Not with me._

Clint clenched his hand and looked away from his arm. There really wasn't a good argument for that.

Flipping his arm over he wrote, _You've met me, I won't hide as much anymore. You know I have to in my line of work._

 _That's not good enough. You need to start answering my questions about you. You need to tell me what you tell your spy organization about me._ The writing seemed to be angry still.

 _It's all been good things_ , Clint tried.

_Yeah, like “Guys, my soul mate's killing himself with the thing he invented for his heart.”_

_If you hadn't noticed the street map on our chests is kind of hard to hide. I need to be shirtless at times._ Left unsaid was that Phil didn't trust him not to hide injuries so the man made him take off his shirt after missions when he got suspicious. The black stain arching over his chest like a deadly spiderweb wasn't something he could hide without a lot of makeup, which he couldn't use and get away with.

 _You could have said something_ , Tony answered.

 _So that we could have fought over my job? You didn't want me to share any information at all. If I had tried to hide it I couldn't have controlled how many people knew. There would have been specialists and needles. I handled it as well as I was able to_ , Clint argued.

There was a long pause after that, so Clint started eating his apple in large bites.

 _Fine, what do they know?_ questioned Tony.

Snorting, Clint answered, _Not any more than I do. You're being poisoned by palladium because of the thing in your chest_.

 _I'll have you know that this 'thing' is a marvel of technology_ , Tony answered. Clint could tell he was trying to tease.

Rolling his eyes first Clint said, _Yeah, completely genius. Does this mean I'm forgiven?_

_I'll think about it... if we go out on a date._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was painfully hard to write. I kept wanting to smack them for what they were going to say. Really guys?
> 
> Also, thank you for the comments <3  
> Ironhawk makes me only think of their super hero personas, too bad there wasn't another common one.


	11. First Dates Aren't Supposed to Be About Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint is having a rough time because Tony has had enough.

_In the interest of full disclosure, Nat convinced me to talk to you first._

Tony looked away as his soul mate continued writing, not willing to wait around for the words to appear as he called for reservations. They had already agreed to eat dinner tonight, as well as where and Tony was taking no chances.

Looking back Tony reread the first sentence, then the rest. _Nat is one of my closest friends... and your current body guard._

Freezing, Tony stared at the words.

_? What?_ Tony wrote back. _Is she one of your spy friends?_

_Yes, but she's doing it as a favour, not for SHIELD._

_Did you not trust me to look after myself?_ Tony demanded. 

_Tony, you're dying. I wanted to help where I could. You told me Happy was taking time off and I asked Nat to step in_ , Clint told him.

Blowing out a frustrated breath Tony ran a hand through his hair. _Fine, but you better let me know from now on when your spy friends are around. I have enough people reporting my every move without adding espionage._

_I will_ , was Clint's reply.

Spinning the phone around in his hand, then tucking it in his pocket, Tony tried to decide his next move. After glancing at his open laptop, where the program had extracted information relating to Clint Barton, Tony leaned towards it. He quickly added in to pick up all information on Natalia Rushman before closing it.

Picking up his pen, he scrawled, _We're on our way to pick you up, dress all pretty for me_ , then capped it.

Striding for the bathroom, Tony began cleaning off all the writing.

 

*********************************************

Clint sucked in a breath and sprang out of his chair, rushing to his bedroom. 

' _Clothes clothes clothes. What should I wear?!_ ' he asked himself frantically.

At least he was still in his underwear, so there was no need to strip first.

' _Purple_ ,' he chose a dress shirt in the vibrant colour from his rather extensive closet and then stared at it. 

It was his favourite colour to wear as himself but perhaps it was too eye catching? 

' _Fuck it_ ,' he thought and pulled it on. Quickly doing it up, he scanned his pants. 

Grabbing grey slacks, Clint stepped into them and then headed to the bathroom. Flicking the light on, he took a deep breath, then stepped up to the counter. Feeling far too much like a hormonal teenager, Clint finished straightening out his appearance.

Far too little time later his skin tingled. Lifting his shirt, Clint saw Tony's writing on his stomach.

_Your chariot awaits milady._

Rolling his eyes, Clint raced for the door. Stopping by the closet, he pulled out the jacket that matched his slacks. Taking a deep breath for courage, Clint left his apartment.

Quickly descending the stairs, he only slowed when he knew he'd become visible. Casually striding over to the limo (really? Could they be any more conspicuous?), he grinned when Tony exited the vehicle. 

Tony folded his arms on top of the car door and leaned on it while Clint approached. His expression lacked any happiness that Clint could see though. There was no return smile as he closed the gap between them.

His own faced smoothed out as his nerves sprang up. Heart sinking, Clint forced his feet not to drag. Stepping around the door until Tony had to turn to continue facing him, he skimmed his eyes over Tony's outfit. 

Ever one to dress impressively, Tony wore a red dress shirt tucked into black dress pants. The top few buttons to his shirt were undone, with no tie to be found.

Forcing his eyes back up, he met Tony's. A small smirk curled up one side of his mouth.

“You can't tell me you haven't seen this before,” Tony said, gesturing down at his body. “Probably with less clothing too.”

“It's far better in person,” Clint assured him with a bit of a smile.

Snorting, Tony recrossed his arms, then shook his head and climbed into the limo.

“As much as we need to talk, I think it's better we not do it on the street,” Tony called out to him as Clint followed him in.

After sliding into the first seat, Clint pulled the door shut and automatically went for the seat belt.

“If it's so much better in person, why wait so long to meet me? Thought I would damage your bad boy image?” Tony asked in a casual tone as he reached into a compartment built into the side of the limo.

Forcing himself not to roll his eyes or tense up, Clint gently rested his arms on his thighs. He'd already come to realize that Tony was very passive-aggressive, this shouldn't surprise him.

“Since most of my life is classified my image isn't something I tend to think on,” Clint replied dryly as he watched Tony pull a thermos out and uncap it.

“Don't like to take work home?” Tony queried.

His muscles tensed without his consent, but at least he didn't flinch. From the way Tony was watching him the reaction hadn't been missed.

“The last soul mate I met ended up in the hospital,” Clint forced himself to confess. “It wasn't a short stay.”

“I--”

Clint spoke over Tony, “I'm aware that you're Iron Man. The whole world is. That doesn't change that my work can bring the worst to my door step looking for blood. You're already a target, you don't need me adding more to it.”

There was a tense pause until Tony asked, “Am I allowed to speak now?”

“Knock your socks off,” Clint replied, deliberately slouching as he turned to face the other man, his arms crossed over his chest.

Tony eyed him before speaking. “You're well aware I can take care of myself. I really don't understand how some person from your past can factor into it when I've already proven myself capable. Even with a hit on me I was able to escape my would-be assassins.”

Clint fought to keep a scowl from his face as Tony spoke, but a frown still made it onto his features. “I never said the issue was with you Tony. Feelings aren't always the most rational,” he confessed, his entire body going tight with tension.

As he had spoken Tony had taken a swig from his drink, though his eyes had narrowed on Clint at the end. 

“I would question how valid that statement was, but that looked painful to say,” Tony finally allowed.

Blowing out a breath Clint added, “Look, I'm sorry I didn't meet you before this. Even being here now,” he gestured around the car, “is hard for me. I'm trying alright?”

Nodding, Tony took another drink, then capped the thermos and put it away again. 

“I'll accept it... if you promise to come to my party this month. Can't have my boyfriend not be there for my birthday after all.” Tony sounded casual, but his posture was anything but as his eyes wouldn't meet Clint's. 

Realizing this was just as hard for his soul mate made Clint relax a bit. 

“I'll do my best to keep my schedule clear for it,” he answered and had the pleasure of seeing Tony start to calm as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for coming back to read more if you've been along before! Life happened and that shit had me away from my love of writing but I fully intend to finish this. Thank you for your continued support everyone, it kept me wanting to get back to this <3
> 
> Kudos and comments have kept me thinking of this one.


	12. Rivals and Defining Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we get to see more of the people behind our heroes as they try to bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep in mind that the breaks in this one are time skips. They are very clearly defined, so you should have no problems keeping track.  
> To show when these breaks are I have a line like this:  
> ************************************************
> 
> The first break is into Clint's past then back to present, the second is a glimpse of Tony's past before the chapter ends. The next chapter will be back to the present again!

Clint somehow managed to steer the conversation to Stark Industries for the remainder of the drive to the restaurant. Tony had chosen to go to the same establishment he had visited with Natalia earlier.

“Good evening, do you have a reservation?” the host greeted them as they stepped in.

“Yes,” Tony replied, “two tables under Stark.”

“Two?” Clint asked as the host nodded and then moved to show them to their table.

“For us to be sitting at,” Tony answered. “I told them I'd pay for any table close to ours while we were eating. I wanted privacy.”

“We're sitting at separate tables?” Clint sounded so confused that Tony couldn't help a small smile.

“One's for Natalia,” he clarified as he pulled a chair out and gestured for Clint to sit before taking the other for himself. “I—”

“Tony!” a man interrupted loudly, clapping him on the shoulder. Tony felt his entire body tense as he looked up to see none other than Justin Hammer.

“It's so good to see you!” Hammer continued. “I just wanted to say hello to the man of the hour! I am so looking forward to seeing your presentation at the Stark Expo. I'm sure the Expo will be an excellent venue for showing off all the latest Hammer Tech weapons.”

Forcing himself to use his press smile and not grit his teeth was more difficult than Tony would have liked to admit.

“It was good of you to buy into the Expo for a spot on the stage,” Tony allowed, wishing he could burn the hand that was still on his shoulder.

“Not as good as owning the stage though,” Clint quipped, causing Tony's smile to be a bit more genuine as he looked at his soul mate. The other man was casually sprawled in his chair, eyeing Hammer with a cool expression.

Hammer chuckled falsely. “I'm sorry but I don't seem to know who you are. Mr...?”

“Oh, I'm not as special as you, Mr. Hammer,” Clint responded with a cheer that seemed wrong to Tony's perception.

“Kindly remove your hand from my employer,” Natalia Rushman cut in from beside Justin Hammer.

Hammer turned to face her, clenching his hand on Tony's shoulder as he did so. The action caused Tony to flinch slightly.

“Listen sweet--” Hammer's voice cut off as Natalia grabbed the offending arm and twisted it behind his back. “Ow! Hey, hey!”

“Hands. Off. Don't make me mention it again, I won't be as gentle next time,” Natalia threatened next to Hammer's ear as he protested.

“Got it! I got it,” Hammer said, shaking his arm as she released him. He rubbed his shoulder as he eyed her sourly. “I could sue you for that.”

“Try it and it'll cost you more than you bargain for,” Tony answered. “Stark Industries protects its own. Besides, it might get in the way of your presentation.”

Straightening out his suit, Hammer gave Tony a curt nod before reeling around and marching back to the table he must have come from. Tony recognized the assistant to the Secretary of Defence there, along with his wife and another young socialite woman.

Clint snorted from behind him, drawing Tony's attention. He raised an eyebrow at Clint in silent question.

The other man rolled his eyes and gestured with his left hand, his right curled around the stem of his water glass. “I'm just enjoying our date being crashed by a guy who wanted to compare dicks.”

Tony opened his mouth to respond but Natalia beat him to it.

“I proved mine was bigger, what does that say about his?” she asked innocently.

Clint reacted before Tony because he was too surprised for a second to process what she'd said. The two of them laughed while she went and sat at her own table.

Tony took a moment to look around at the tables surrounding them, Nat sat at a table positioned between them and where Hammer had come from. The other direction seemed to lead to the kitchen. Around them were empty tables, just as he had asked for. 

Glancing across the table to where his soul mate was still grinning with dim lights and a candle sitting at their table, Tony thought the setting was perfect.

“I can see why you would want to be close to Natalia,” Tony told Clint.

Clint's smile dimmed a bit, but he leaned closer to Tony.

“Her name is Natasha, Natalia is her cover. Don't blame her for it, she has more identities than most women have shoes,” Clint informed him earnestly, his expression concerned.

Tony rested his hand on the table, answering with, “I'll forgive the subterfuge for now, but I expect you to be more upfront with me from this moment on.” He raised his hand in a placating gesture. “I know not using her true identity was probably Natasha's choice, but it had to do with what you asked of her. I'll speak to her about it another time.”

Nodding, Clint sat back in his chair, looking contemplative. “I can accept that.”

“Is there anything else I should know? Something you're keeping from me? I won't be so forgiving if something else pops up unexpectedly,” Tony clarified.

Clint covered his eyes for a moment, then shook his head and lowered his hand. “Nothing job related, nothing that I can think of that directly involves us.” Tony started to speak when Clint shot him a look and frowned. “There's a lot in my line of work I can't be completely upfront with Tony. I signed agreements that can't be tossed out the window.”

Crossing his arms and fighting a scowl Tony said, “Fine. Anything not job related?”

His soul mate touched his left ear, looking sheepish. “I'm mostly deaf in one ear and not much better in the other. It was technically from a field mission, but it's got to do more with me than the job.”

“That's one thing I can't fault you for,” Tony replied, stopping himself just in time so his hand never made it to his chest. The gesture still showed enough for Clint to start looking sympathetic and worried.

Thankfully, the waitress chose that moment to make her way towards them. Tony had already chosen what he wanted to eat. He chose a wine to go with their meal as Clint picked. After they had ordered, Tony seafood pasta and Clint a steak, Tony studied his soul mate.

“I was beginning to wonder if we'd be able to go on a date at all,” Tony told him, and this time let himself touch where the black marred his skin around the reactor.

Mirroring the gesture, Clint replied, “I couldn't stay away.”

Something in Tony finally relaxed at that. Aiming for a change of topic, Tony asked, “How did you and Natasha meet?”

Smirking, Clint replied, “While she was trying to kill me.”

“What?”

“In her defence, I wasn't her target at the time,” he continued, a smile still curling his lips. “It was years ago, and she wasn't on my side.”

“I never would have guessed,” Tony added dryly.

******************************************************************************

Hawkeye was seated in the back of the vehicle with his assignment, the case containing his bow in his lap and his arrows in a duffle bag by his right hand. His assignment seemed enamoured with his own voice, he hadn't shut up since he started driving. 

Agent Barton did his best to follow along but... he was bored out of his mind. The guy was endlessly describing golf and the radio wasn't even on. If he hadn't been going to meet someone in a cottage in the middle of nowhere Clint wouldn't have bothered to go along.

As it was, his assignment didn't know that Clint was an agent assigned to keep him from dying. He thought Clint had volunteered to look after his car while he got laid.

While joy riding for a few hours with a beautiful car sounded wonderful, Clint was stuck watching the asshole who was now describing the woman he was meeting like a piece of meat.

Thankfully they were finally pulling into the driveway. 

A very long driveway.

Forcing himself not to groan as his assignment wondered if the woman was a natural red head in the most vulgar way, Clint wondered if he could get away with killing the man.

Most likely.

He finally parked the car and they both got out. The assignment gave him the keys and Clint slid in behind the wheel. Waving as he backed up, Clint watched the other man wait for him to be gone.

When he pulled out of sight, Clint pulled his bow out of the case, slung his arrows over his shoulder and shut off the car. Closing the door quietly, he then sprinted for the house. 

Checking the windows for light he saw the shadow of his charge moving behind the drapes of a window that must belong to the living room.

Debating the merits of watching inside versus outside, Clint realized he would most likely have to watch from inside.

Shuddering in disgust, Clint studied the building for the best entrance. Since it was summer the windows should be cracked. 

None were.

Huffing in irritation, he made his way to the front door. Not the best for sneaking but hopefully his assignment would be...occupying the woman.

Muscles stiff from his protesting emotions, Clint went to the door and was surprised to find it locked.

What person expects to have their house broken into at night in the middle of nowhere?

Instantly going on full alert, Clint pulled out his lock picks and got the door open. Forcing himself to move quietly he made his way into the house.

Sneaking in an unfamiliar building was always more difficult, he had no idea what the layout was or where any touchy floor boards might be. It made things harder.

Still, he snuck from the entrance hall to the doorway of what he had supposed was the livingroom. Turned out he was right, but he was still surprised by what he saw.

Unless the guy was more kinky than he thought, the woman wasn't in it for the sex. Then again, it'd be hard to do anything sexual while fully clothed and tied to a chair.

The red head really did have a nice body, but it was the knife in her hand he was more interested in.

She trailed the edge of the blade along his assignment's neck as she spoke, “If you were more talkative before going for my breasts you might not have ended up in this position. Don't you know a lady likes to be romanced?”

If he shot her hand from this angle she was just as likely to stab his assignment as be disarmed. Slinging his bow around his shoulders, Clint drew one of his knives.

“I—I'm sorry. I didn't know that--” the man whimpered but cut himself off with a cry when the woman smacked him with the flat of her blade.

“You didn't know it was impolite to treat me like an object? We'll just have to teach you some manners. Sadly, you won't get time to put them in to practice,” the woman told his assignment as Clint crept closer to the doorway, watching for an opening.

"I wouldn't even bother with the lesson, but you have something I need," she told his assignment, walking around him until he was between Clint and the woman. Stepping up behind the tied man, she whispered something in his ear, the knife resting against his neck once more.

Eyeing how she was standing, Clint felt the risk of him being seen was too great for him to enter the room. She seemed to want his assignment alive for now. As long as he was still alive in the end Clint wouldn't be too upset by him being roughed up a little.

Holding himself poised for action, he had to keep himself from rolling his eyes as the other man whimpered.

' _Dumbass._ '

"I--I can't," Clint heard the man whimper.

"Can't? I don't think you understand the position you're in," she told him, pulling the knife away and grasping his tie, she spun around his body until she was straddling his lap. It was an oddly sensual position as she pulled the tie until it clearly dug in. "You talk or I'll be forced to make you suffer. The faster you answer, the less pain you'll be in. Save yourself the trouble and tell me where it is."

As she was talking Clint slipped into the room and behind the couch. There was still too much room between them for him to be comfortable making his move, and now he only had shadows to work with to see where the woman was.

The man tied to the chair made another distressed sound. "I-it's. It's... I don't know where it is!"

Even not being able to see the guy, Clint knew that was a lie.

"Wrong answer," the woman informed his assignment, he heard a smack and a cry of pain.

At this rate, the tied man would be black and blue before Clint made it across the room.

...Actually, he was okay with that. Maybe he should wait behind the couch a while.

The other man whimpered again.

Sadly, Clint was obligated to save him; especially before he opened his big mouth.

"Let's try that again. Where is the location of the weapon's blue prints?" the red head inquired. He could see from the shadows she was no longer on the other man's lap.

He would wait until she was between them and hopefully no one would get stabbed unnecessarily.

Thankfully she moved to do exactly that.

Leaping out from behind the couch, Clint tackled the woman who reacted by throwing him off as they hit the ground. Rolling back to his feet, Clint spun to face her.

She tilted her head to study him as Clint positioned himself between her and his assignment.

"Well, hello there," she greeted, then launched herself at him.

Blocking her from stabbing him with his forearm, he slashed at her as the man behind him sobbed.

She flicked her head towards his assignment as they traded punches.

"Is he worth your time?" she asked him.

"No," Clint answered while redirecting her kick aimed for his gut. The man behind him whimpered again. "But he isn't worth yours either."

"My handler disagrees," the woman replied.

She threw her knife at the man behind him, forcing Clint to block it and leaving himself open.

Kicking his legs out from under him, she leapt on top of him as he fell. He barely got his forearms up in time to keep her from hitting him. As it was he heard the sparks from the weapons around her wrists.

Gripping her with his legs, he threw her off him.

"Black Widow," he accused as he rose into a crouch.

"You've heard of me? How nice," she remarked as she closed in again.

Cursing under his breath as he tried land hits, he ended up with a kick to the ribs.

Using the momentum he gained from the hit he rolled away and came back with a jab from his knife.

She blocked it and used his jab as a pivot to throw him over her shoulders. He hit the wall with a bang. He smacked at his leg and grabbed his phone from his pocket. Widow tried to kick his phone away from him but he managed to scramble clear.

Waking the phone up he quickly hit his speed dial button. A voice murmured from the phone as Widow succeeded in hitting it from his hand.

"Couldn't handle me on your own, hot shot?" Black Widow taunted.

"Not stupid enough to risk it," Clint corrected.

"Then I better make my escape," she replied.

Clint braced himself for an attack but her knife didn't come near him.

His assignment screamed in pain as the red head raced away.

***************************************************************************

Tony grinned at Clint and shook his head. “Did your assignment survive?”

“Of course, but the first aid I needed to perform on him kept me from catching Natasha,” Clint answered, swirling his wine around in his glass.

“Did you manage to catch her?” Tony asked.

“Yes, though it was much later,” replied Clint.

“Tell me about it?” 

“I want a story from you this time. How about when your two best friends met? You said it was quite the time and then never shared,” Clint deflected.

Grinning Tony answered, “You want to hear about honey bear and Pepper? I suppose I can do that.”

*************************************************************************

 

Tony was bored out of his mind. The board members wouldn't see reason. 

It. Was. Just. Shipping.

What was so difficult about choosing a shipping contract?

They didn't even choose one before they ran out of time and had to leave for the evening.

Groaning, Tony said to Pepper, “You've been promoted, from now on you're to go to all of the board meetings for me and listen to them natter on like idiots. I don't need to be there for these things.”

“You mean attend the meetings you miss like I normally do?” Pepper asked with false sweetness. “I'm so honoured, Mr Stark.”

Sucking in a breath like he was wounded, Tony slapped a hand over his heart. “Are you accusing me of skipping board meetings? I would never, Ms Potts.”

“Tony skipping board meetings? You're right, that doesn't sound like you at all,” came a man's voice, causing Tony to light up and throw his arms wide.

“Rhodey! Gummy bear! What a pleasant surprise!” Tony exclaimed, grinning.

Rhodes raised one eyebrow, clearly unimpressed but still amused. “It shouldn't have been. You were supposed to meet me.”

Tony felt his expression go blank as his mind raced. He started talking. “No, no, I was supposed to meet you Friday after work. Clearly I'm still working and it isn't Fri...day,” he finished weakly as he checked his watch, which did say Friday, seven pm.

“Well, this is embarrassing,” Tony continued, “for you, obviously, because this can't be the right Friday.”

“Really, Tony? You're going to go with that?” asked Rhodey.

Distractions were clearly in order.

“Pepper!” Tony exclaimed, tugging her in front of him. “This tight ass is our liaison with the military, Colonel Rhodes. Colonel Rhodes, this is my assistant Virginia Potts.” He leaned forward conspiratorially, and said, “Don't call her Ginny, she goes by Pepper.”

“It's wonderful to meet you,” Pepper said, raising her arm to shake Rhodey's hand as she stepped back with one foot.

Knowing her tricks, Tony avoided a high heel to the toes as he made his escape for the bathroom.

“Tony!” they both called after him.

*************************************************************************************

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you guys think of my little jumps into the past. Comments are the best <3 Though I do enjoy kudos too.


	13. Date's End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint isn't happy about how short Tony's story was. Hopefully things will continue going smoothly...

Clint laughed about Tony pulling a disappearing act on Pepper and Rhodey while Tony leaned back in his chair, looking pleased.

Once he calmed he looked at Tony expectantly but his pen pal was back to eating his pasta. 

“Wait, that's it? I give you an epic tale about my first meeting with Natasha and get something short in response? No, you need to tell me something else,” Clint insisted.

Tony looked surprised at his words before his face became more neutral. “I guess I could tell you another story. What's in it for me though?” he asked with a curl of his lips that looked wicked, shooting heat through Clint.

An answering smirk sprung to Clint's face. “I can think of a few things,” he remarked casually, leaning forward so his left forearm lay on the table.

“I'm interested,” Tony told him, taking a sip of his drink before setting it aside. “Two of us, somewhere private tonight?” he suggested with a smile.

Grinning as he toyed with his fork, Clint agreed, “That was what I was thinking.” Quickly leaning back Clint gestured for him to continue. “Story first.”

Sighing exasperatedly, though his lips were too curved to pull it off fully, Tony answered, “Fine, if you insist.”

*************************************************************

 

He had forgotten Rhodey's birthday. In between finishing his Master's degree and working on blue prints for SI Tony had completely lost track of the days.

Maybe pulling that all nighter had been a bad idea...the second time.

Sighing and running his hand through his hair, Tony picked himself off up his workbench and headed for the shower. The water and soap did nothing to wash off the accusation on his forearm though.

 _Missed you at my party_ , Rhodey had written.

Determined to not let this turn out that badly, Tony called his personal driver to pick him up.

Once he was in the car he made a few phone calls to other people.

He had missed the party, but he knew what his soul mate liked.

Two hours later he was pulling into the compound Rhodey was posted at.

 _Rhodey, I have a surprise. Meet me out front?_ he wrote over what his friend had said. Tony then waited anxiously for him to show up.

What felt like hours later but probably was only minutes, Rhodes came striding up to the limo Tony was seated in.

Tony hurriedly rolled down the window to talk to him.

“What are you doing here, Tones?” Rhodey asked in a resigned tone, his arms crossed over his chest.

“I told you I have a surprise. Please, Rhodey?” Tony replied.

Rhodey tapped his fingers against his arm and sighed. “Are you at least going to apologize?”

“I'm sorry,” Tony answered in a voice barely above a mumble.

“What was that?” Rhodey questioned, sounding unimpressed.

“I'm sorry, okay? Can we please go now?” Tony almost begged.

Rhodey eyed him for a moment, then walked around the vehicle.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Tony relaxed back into his seat.

Soon enough they were on their way. Rhodey shared a few stories about what happened at the party and Tony shared about his latest projects. They managed to chat the entire trip to the firing range.

Rhodey looked amused when he noted where they were.

Excited to show his soul mate what he had arranged, Tony scrambled out of the car and went to the trunk. Pulling it open he grabbed a large duffle bag and gestured at the cooler to Rhodey.

“Help me out?” Tony asked.

Rhodey looked amused as he strolled over to grab the cooler. “Making me do labour for my own surprise? So cruel, Tones.”

“Poor sugar pop,” Tony replied with a flutter of his lashes.

Snorting a laugh, Rhodey eyed Tony. “We agreed that you wouldn't do the nicknames.”

“Did we? I don't remember that,” Tony said snootily, leading the way to the range.

“Sure Tones, real smooth,” Rhodey answered dryly.

The firing range was empty, which Tony had made sure of before they arrived. An assortment of weapons were already ready for them when they entered, another thing Tony had called ahead for.

“Go ahead and try them out,” Tony told Rhodey when he caught his friend eyeing the guns.

Grinning, Rhodey did exactly that as Tony set up.

Happy his friend was distracted, he took out the latest Stark weapons that weren't even on the market yet and set out all the food he had brought. 

Rhodey had been delighted with his surprise.

 

************************************************************** 

“That,” Clint said while pointing at Tony, the wine glass in his hand, “was much better.” He took a sip of his drink before setting it aside. “So you and Rhodes were platonic soul mates?”

Smiling slightly, Tony nodded. “Yes, it was one of the better times in my life.”

“Nat and I were platonics once. It didn't last long though,” Clint replied as he scooped the last of his food from his plate.

Tony looked curious as he did the same. “How many soul mates have you had? You've always implied it was a lot but I've never been given a number.”

Shrugging, Clint played with his fork rather than looking Tony in the eye as he answered, “I lost count.” His eyes darted up in time to catch Tony's surprised expression. “You?”

Tony's expression closed off. “Two,” he replied shortly.

“Other than me?” Clint inquired, taken aback.

“Including you,” Tony answered, looking away.

There was an awkward pause as the waiter asked if they wanted any desserts. Clint shook his head when Tony shot him a questioning look. Tony paid for their meals and they headed out of the restaurant.

As they left Clint mustered up his courage and started speaking, “Tony, I--”

“Tony Stark?” A woman questioned, she had been leaning casually against the post at end of the railing to the stairs they were walking down. At their approach she straightened and stepped directly into their path.

“The one and only,” Tony answered with a press-ready smile.

Clint wondered how many people realized it was fake even as he eyed the piece of paper the woman held in her hand.

Natasha suddenly was at Tony's other side as they approached the stranger. He knew Natasha was assessing the other for threats just as he was.

“What can I do for you?” Tony questioned. “If you want an autograph, I could spare the time.” He glanced at his watch as they stopped just out of her reach.

“No, I'm just serving a subpoena,” the woman answered, holding out the paper.

Tony eyed it with a blank face. “Ouch.”

Natasha snatched it out of the woman's hand as Clint asked, “You have a badge?”

The woman gave a very fake smile as she pulled one out. “You're hereby ordered by the Senate Armed Services Committee to appear before court tomorrow morning at nine am.”

“Good thing I'm in the city then, isn't it?” Tony questioned no one in particular as he started down the stairs again, edging around the woman who hadn't moved.

Clint's mind raced as he followed.

“What would they have done if you hadn't been in the city?” Clint asked out loud as he reached into his pocket for his phone. Coulson needed to be informed of this development.

“The exact same thing,” Tony answered. “The less time I have to prepare, the more likely they are to win. Or so they think.”

“We need a plan,” Natasha put in.

So much for a private night with his soul mate...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone want to see the court meeting? I'm thinking about skipping it as I didn't like that scene much in Iron Man 2.


	14. Just Another Day at Court

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is unimpressed with his night and bureaucracy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't like seeing a scene redone in a fic with the character's take on it thrown in, you can skip down to the bottom and scroll up to the line that starts with "Natasha was suddenly at his side." Until then, this is Tony's take on the court scene in Iron Man II.
> 
> If you guys enjoy this chapter, you can thank VWebb and Althelas for convincing me to write it!  
> I love your comments and kudos <3 They inspire me to keep writing. Even just commenting "kudos" makes me smile.

Natasha, Agent and Clint had all meant well last night but all they had managed to do was annoy him. It wouldn't have bothered him if the entire situation hadn't acted as an enormous cock-block but you can't argue with results. Any time he had tried to be alone with his soul mate it had backfired. 

Eventually he had given up and ushered all of them out of his room with the excuse of some shut-eye. 

Not that they hadn't been useful, he had a game-plan for the shit-show today, but that didn't make him any happier about everything.

Frustrated before the meeting even got underway, he barely had the patience to deal with this.

By the time he was seated and all the beginning bureaucracy was out of the way, he was ready to throw all their petty rules out the window.

Rather than allowing himself to be cowed, Tony turned around to try to chat with Pepper and Clint. Pepper seemed inherently irritated with him lately. Clint, on the other had, gave nothing away with his expression, but Tony got the impression his soul mate was amused.

“Mr Stark! Please.”

Spinning around Tony answered, “Yes, dear?” 

“Can I have your attention?” Senator Stern asked.

“Absolutely,” Tony replied, smiling as the crowd ate it up behind him. 

He had already played it up so they were ready enjoy everything he had to say. Out of all of his skills developed after Howard had died, pleasing a crowd had been one Tony had taken careful pains to have. If you had the masses on your side you were far less likely to go under.

“Do you or do you not own a specialized weapon?” he demanded calmly.

Mentally rolling his eyes at the question and still staying turned halfway around in his seat Tony answered, “I do not.” He wasn't going to fall for that trick.

“You do not?”

“I do not.” Still, if they were going to define it...best not to get trapped in legalese. “Well, it depends on how you define a weapon,” he clarified. Sometimes they considered nail clippers weapons now, not allowed to fly with them commercially anymore.

As he started to turn back around to speak to Pepper more, the Senator spoke again, “The Iron Man weapon.”

Holding back a sigh and facing the Committee fully Tony told them, “My device does not fit that description.” Even calling it a suit of armour would better define it. He wasn't a bomb.

“Then how would you describe it?”

Even as the other man was talking, Tony was compelled to speak over him, “I would describe it by defining it as what it is.”

“And that is?” the Senator asked, falling right into his hands.

“It's...” Tony paused, making sure he'd word it perfectly, playing the crowd. “It's a high tech prosthesis.” He earned the laughter he was expecting, but his next words were true, “That is—That is actually the most apt description I could make of it.” He'd looked it up to be sure, no one could say he wasn't an expert in any field he dabbled in, which included descriptions for what he worked with. Copy rights were a bitch that way. 

“It's a weapon,” the Senator attempted to correct, insisting, “It's a weapon, Mr Stark.” Because repeating yourself made it true. 

The Senator went on to say, “I hate to--”

Getting impatient, Tony interrupted, “Please, if you were really prioritizing the well-being of American citizens--”

Talking over him, the Senator said, “My priority is to get the Iron Man Weapon turned over to the people of the United States of America.”

' _And mine is to eat my left shoe_ ,' Tony thought uncharitably as he rejoined with, “Well, you can forget it. I am Iron Man. The suit and I are one.” It was entirely accurate, the suit ran on the reactor embedded in his chest, nothing else. “To turn over the Iron Man Suit--” not Weapon “—would be to turn over myself, which would be tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution depending on what state you're in.” The crowd behind him started to chuckle. “Can't have it.”

“Look, I am no expert--” the Senator began.

“In prostitution?” Tony couldn't help but ask. “Of course not you're a Senator. Come on.” He turned around and waved as the crowd cracked up behind him. Pepper definitely looked unamused but Clint's shoulders were shaking slightly.

Tony resisted he urge to wink at his soul mate as the Senator attempted to regain control of the proceedings, but did turn back around, deigning to give the man his attention.

“I am not expert in weapons. We did bring a man in who is an expert in weapons. I would now like to call on Justin Hammer--” Tony straightened up, offended despite himself “--our current weapons contractor.”

He was also an idiot who cut far too many corners in all of his production lines, endangering many. “Let the record know that I observed Mr Hammer entering the chamber and I am wondering, if and when any actual expert will also be in attendance.” 

' _Other than myself_ ,' which was insulting.

Justin Hammer, in the process of lifting his glass, paused to let his shoulders shake, tipping his drink in Tony's direction to acknowledge his words.

“Absolutely,” Hammer said into his mic, giving a fake laugh. “I'm no expert. I differ to you Anthony.”

Tony looked away, unimpressed with the casual address. The bastard knew which buttons to push after all the arguments they had inevitably gotten into over the years.

“You're the wonder boy.” He paused to see if he had pushed Tony into a response, but Tony refused to give any ground. Hammer continued, “Uh, Senator, if I may...” 

' _Ass kisser_ ,' Tony thought in exasperation. 

“I may well not be an expert. But do you know who was the expert? Your dad! Howard Stark,” Hammer said.

Another shot at Tony, ineffective but effort made.

“Really a father to us all,” Hammer added casually.

Looking away Tony fought to keep from rolling his eyes, Howard was hardly a father figure. Tony'd know.

“Let's just be clear, Howard was no flower child. He was a lion. We all know why we're here. Anthony has created a sword with untold possibilities, that he insists is a shield. He asks us to trust him as we cower behind it.” 

' _Clint's getting a laugh out of that_ ,' Tony thought to himself, one corner of his mouth turning up in the parody of a smirk.

Thankfully, Tony was able to mostly tune out the rest of Hammer's words until the people around him gave a rather insincere round of applause at his conclusion. The Senator tried to make it out to be better than it was as he invited Colonel Rhodes in.

Acting surprised—Natasha had insisted that he act surprised, can't be caught breaking into confidential government files after all—Tony got up to meet him.

“Hey, buddy,” Tony was unable to not make a point of his friend not telling him about this far before now. The paper Rhodey had written—and Tony had found—made it rather obvious he had known something was going on. “Fancy meeting you here.”

They shook hands and Rhodey told him, “Look, it's me. I'm here. Deal with it. Let's move on.” At least his 'friend' was no more pleased to be here than Tony was.

“Okay. I just--”

“Drop it,” Rhodey ordered.

“Alright,” Tony finished, shaking his head. 

Once again fed up, Tony slouched into his chair. Bureaucracy at it's finest, using Rhodey to try to skew public opinion in the most “official” way. This was why he didn't currently hold any government contracts.

His friend had done a rather well thought out paper reviewing the Iron Man armour. It defended Tony's position while trying to be as unbiased as only his military buddy had ever bothered to be since university. Of course, attempting to be unbiased meant that parts could be taken out of context.

Though Rhodey argued, Senator Assshole forced him to read only one paragraph that reflected poorly on Tony. When Rhodey then went to show images of hugely poor quality Tony'd had enough.

Taking out his phone, Tony enacted the final part of what he'd planned. Hacking into their little slide show, he showed the public how ineffective the armours coming out of North Korea and Iran really were. As Hammer rushed to cut Tony off, the scene changed to the grand finale.

“Oh, isn't that Justin Hammer?” Tony questioned with faux surprise as a man in a suit of armour stumbled around. 

In the video Justin was front and centre, trying to walk the pilot through testing. 

“Justin you're on TV, focus up,” Tony taunted, then shared a glance with Rhodey.

Rhodes knew exactly what the video was about to show, because he carefully hid a relieved smile behind his hand.

Justin Hammer only became more frantic to shut the footage off as on screen he led the pilot into turning the armour until the man inside screamed, his torso turned to the left unnaturally. It was quite obvious he'd broken his spine. Hammer swore in the background audio.

As Hammer finally cut the feed to the monitor, Tony ended with, “I'd say most countries are five years away. Hammer Industries, twenty.”

Hammer made his way over to his mic to say, “I would like to point out that the test pilot survived.”

' _Yeah, dig the hole deeper_ ,' Tony thought with macabre humour. “I think we're done here.”

Head Asshole tried to argue with him but Tony shut him down.

“You should thank me,” Tony stated. When Senator Stern asked why, Tony answered with, “I am the current nuclear deterrent. We're safe. You want my property? Well, you can't have it. But I did you a big favour!” Tony stood to emphasize his final point, turning to the rational people behind him. “I have successfully privatize world peace.” He held his hands up in peace signs to the cheers and standing ovation of the people behind him. 

“Thank you,” he acknowledged them. “What more do you want?” he demanded as he turned around. “I tried to play ball with these ass clowns.”

Head Asshole proved he had won by swearing at him and sarcastically saying it was a pleasure. Never to be outdone, Tony blew him a sarcastic kiss and turned after winking.

Strutting his way out of the court, Tony looked around for his soul mate and bodyguard.

Natasha was suddenly at his side before he made it out of the room. Clint, on the other hand, didn't show up until he was out of the building.

“You sure know how to play a crowd, Mr Stark,” Agent Barton told him while straightening away from the wall he'd been propped against.

“One of my many talents,” Tony agreed with a smile as the other man fell into step beside him.

“Will we be waiting for Colonel Rhodes and Ms Potts?” inquired Clint.

“I'm sure they're busy with other things,” Tony replied, waving it away.

“Other things more important than spending time with you?” Clint asked, sounding offended as Natasha opened the limo door for them.

“No need to be like that, favourite Agent,” Tony tried to tease before sliding into the limousine's back seat. He'd attempted to make it the Lamborghini but had been unanimously shut down. 

“'No need to make it like that'?” Clint put in incredulously as they buckled up. “Tony, you're sick. That thing in your chest is killing you!” Tony held back a flinch. “How could they not be making time with you a priority?”

“Well they hardly know that do they?” As soon as the words left his mouth Tony regretted them. He should really work harder on his filter.

Uncomfortably shifting in his seat, Tony dared to meet his soul mate's eyes.

“You haven't told them?!”

“I didn't exactly tell you either,” Tony defended, then winced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your continued support! It means a lot to me. From here on we won't be sticking so close to cannon.
> 
> Did you guys enjoy how I wrote the court scene if you read it? I liked trying to make it my own, though it was a challenge.


	15. Time to Pick on Clint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint and Tony disagree, Natasha helps out.

For a genius, Tony was good at making stupid decisions.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Clint closed his eyes and then counted to ten.

After he was sure he wouldn't be shouting, Clint asked, “Why did you think it was a good idea not to tell them?”

“I didn't want to worry them. I'm still alive, I can still fix it,” Tony argued.

"So you don't think they'll notice that you're acting any differently at all Tony? You told me you had back up plans, are your friends not included? The only way they won't notice anything is if they don't know you at all. Isn't it better that they know what's going on so they can help you and be prepared? Or would you rather shove them away and have them regret the last months you spent with them because all you did with them in the end was argue? These people are supposed to care about you Tony, don't you think they would want to be there for you?" Clint demanded.

"I don't want them to be upset at all!" Tony exclaimed.

"Well that isn't an option. No matter what you do someone is going to be upset. What you can control is how badly they will feel when they find out," Clint held up a hand and spoke over Tony when he tried to interrupt. "It isn't an 'if' they find out at this point Tony, it's when. Even I have noticed a difference in you lately. I haven't been speaking to you that long. These two know you. Do you really think they haven't got any idea? If you do, they aren't your friends at all."

At that point they had pulled into the parking for the restaurant Tony had made lunch reservations in. The silence between the two of them was pointed enough that Natasha caught Clint's eye as they were making their way inside.

Clint shook his head at her and she nodded in understanding. They'd discuss it later.

Tony led the way to a table they could all be seated at. With menus as an excuse not to speak, they passed the time until their orders were taken in silence. Once they were alone again Clint turned to Natasha and deliberately picked a light topic.

"The salad special of the day, Nat? I thought you liked to eat more than rabbit food for an entire meal," Clint teased with a grin.

Easily taking the hint Natasha took a sip of her drink and looked at him coyly from beneath her lashes. "I have to keep my figure somehow darling," she said with an effected drawl. "Looking this good takes effort you know." She fluffed her hair with her fingers then turned to Tony. "We don't all do metal work to keep our shape," she told Clint's soul mate primly.

Tony was looking at her with amusement in his eyes.

Natasha then turned to Clint and said, "A burger and fries at every meal and you'll find your waist line expanding."

With a dramatic gasp, Clint clapped a hand to his mouth, then lowered it to hiss at her, "I'll have you know that I need all the calories I can get. Can't you see I'm wasting away?" He clasped a hand to his forehead and slumped back in his chair, making his soul mate chuckle.

"Sure, that's why I can toss you around so easily when we spar," Natasha replied with a smirk.

Straightening out of his slouch Clint schooled his expression to be offended. Rounding on Tony, Clint demanded, "Aren't you going to defend my honour?"

"But I love you just the way you are pumpkin," Tony rejoined while batting his lashes.

Clint sputtered as Natasha laughed.

"I think I can see why you two are soul mates," Natasha told them. "You work well together."

"Speaking of work, when do you have to leave to be ready for the Expo presentation tomorrow?" Clint asked after shooting Natasha a smile.

"Technically speaking, I only have to be there an hour before," Tony explained with a gesture of his hand. "In reality, I'm planning on being there in the morning before the opening. That means we leave tonight. I want to speak to some of the other people who are showing that day of the Expo. I didn't just sell stage space to people like Hammer," he went on with a roll of his eyes. "I donated some time to up and coming stars who need to show off to gain some funding. I can't fund every exciting project I come across, as difficult as that may be to say," Tony continued with a self-depreciating smile. "What I can do is make it so their projects get noticed by people who can fit those products into their company budget."

"That's generous of you," Natasha said as Clint nodded.

Tony shook his head and sat back in his chair. "I'm just helping them put themselves out there. There's no guarantee stage time will get them sponsors."

"No, but that doesn't negate your good deed, Tony," Clint informed him.

Shrugging a shoulder Tony stared down into his drink. "Perhaps not. Will you be able to be there for my presentation? It's after normal business hours," Tony explained with a raised eyebrow.

Clint gave it some thought, tapping his finger against his glass. "I think I can manage it, but I would have to go in this afternoon to fill in some paperwork," he told his soul mate with a cringe.

"The dreaded paperwork," Tony agreed with a mock shudder.

Smiling, Clint shook his head.

"You'll need to check in with Coulson as well," Natasha added.

"Is he your babysitter?" Tony asked. "You always seem to be looking for his input. Not that I would do anything without informing Pepper, all my hard work might implode without her to hold it together."

Grinning at that image, Clint answered, "He's my handler."

“I think Coulson would agree with the title of 'babysitter' in your case Barton,” Natasha added.

“Hey!”

“Oh?” Tony questioned, with a smile. He leaned towards Natasha. “Tell me more.”

Clint huffed and crossed his arms, leaning back as he acted offended.

Resting one arm on the table Natasha pointed at Clint while keeping her eyes on Tony. “Barton here gets himself into a lot of scrapes that we're always digging him out of.”

“Now that's unfair, sometimes they're part of the assignment,” Clint said with a sniff.

“I don't recall throwing yourself off a building being inside mission parameters,” Natasha added dryly.

“It was coming down anyway! At least if I jumped I had control of my fall,” Clint defended.

Tony looked a mixture between amused and appalled as he put in, “You're going to have to start taking me along.”

“You'd have to sign up for that,” Clint told him with an excited smile.

Raising his hands, Tony ducked his head and said, “No thanks. I don't play well with others.”

“How do you know if you've never gone on a mission with others before?” Natasha asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I've been told so by more people than I care to count,” Tony answered with a sardonic curve to his lips. 

Deciding to steer the subject onto lighter things, Clint asked about the projects Tony was promoting with the Expo.

Before he knew it, lunch was over and Natasha was dropping him off at HQ.

The perfect place to begin his plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have the next chapter written! I just want to look it over for a bit before posting it.


	16. Interventions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People decide Tony needs a change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, I left a bit of a spoiler at the end of last chapter. This one should make it make sense XD

Tony still hadn't managed to get his soul mate alone with a bed, but it wasn't as big of an issue to him as he would have thought. As long as he had Clint around he could handle the rest.

Dodging (most) of the fireworks down to the stage of the Stark Expo, Tony's foremost thought was to look for his soul mate in the crowd.

Since he didn't see Clint right away he had Jarvis start stripping his arms before taking off the helmet. The mechanized platform folded around until the mechanical arms could reach the suit, taking it apart.

Taking the arms off first may have been the only thing that saved him.

The sudden screaming had Tony jerking around.

A whip of electricity sliced through the arms helping him and wrapped around his neck.

Startled into shouting, Tony was pulled further onto the stage.

He managed to keep from falling flat on his back as he struggled to get loose.

The whip let go and Tony spun to see his attacker fending off Natasha with a second whip.

Raising his hand to fire a repulsor was automatic, but that produced nothing with his hands bare.

"J, where is Barton?" Tony demanded as he searched the area for a weapon.

People were still yelling and he could hear the sparks of both the whips and his broken tech.

"I am unable to pinpoint his location," his AI informed him as Tony grabbed one of the broken arms from his platform.

"Alright, scan this asshole. What is he wearing?" Tony ordered as he moved closer to the man with the whips.

Natasha was doing her best to get closer but those weapons cut through metal like it was paper. Taking him out from up close would be a problem.

"He appears to be using arc technology," JARVIS stated.

Tony could see the blue glow on the man's chest which connected into the rigging on his body, ending in the whips.

"I kind of guessed that," Tony answered, then threw his makeshift weapon at their attacker.

The other man staggered, but then turned on Tony with a feral grin.

' _Oh shit_ ,' Tony thought.

Trying to dodge with a half working suit wasn't easy. He fell to the ground like a rock to avoid the first attack, but the second whip hit his torso hard.

Even with the armour on his breath left him and sparks flew. Systems flashed and went out.

"You have sustained heavy d-damage--" JARVIS cut out as he threw himself to one side.

Thankfully he was still able to see as he struggled to get up.

Natasha had hit the guy with a chair from the looks of it. It had been cut in half, the piece in her hand still glowing with heat.

Panting, Tony tried to figure a way out of this.

Suddenly, restraints came out of nowhere and enclosed their assailant. As the man fought to free himself both Tony and Natasha ran at him.

Nat hit him over the head as Tony tore the reactor out of the harness.

Natasha took the man down as Tony crushed the piece of tech under his boot.

With the hard part done for them, security appeared out of the woodwork to handle the rest.

Dazed, Tony watched the man being carted away.

"Do I need a can opener to get a kiss?"

Snorting, Tony turned to see Clint beside him, looking concerned despite his teasing tone. He also noticed the bow in his soul mate's hands.

Reaching for the latches, Tony took off the helmet and replied, "Unlike some I'm not in the dark ages. No need to use inferior tools for that."

Clint grinned, then grabbed behind his neck to yank him down for a kiss.

The heat that tore through Tony as Clint kissed him passionately had him grabbing the other man's hips to hang on.

Breaking away, Clint told him, "Next time try not to let the villain catch you half dressed."

Once he started laughing Tony found himself unable to stop, so he buried his face against his soul mate's neck and let it come. Clint ran his fingers through Tony's hair as he waited.

Finally, Tony pulled back and looked his soul mate over for injuries.

"For the record, half the suit is not fun to lean against. You should install pillows or I'm going to have to ban it from future snuggles," Clint informed him seriously.

Chuckling and shaking his head at his soul mate's antics, Tony glanced around at the destruction that had occurred to his stage.

"Pepper is going to kill me," Tony said ruefully.

"I can speak for myself!" the auburn haired woman herself exclaimed. "Tony what were you thinking?!"

"Pepper--"

"We're all shaken by what happened," Clint interrupted. "Why don't we go home, have a snack, some drinks and then some sleep before we do damage control."

Pepper pinched the bridge of her nose as Clint spoke, nodding. "Alright, fine." She thrust her hand out at Clint. "We weren't properly introduced. I'm Pepper Potts. You must be Agent Clint Barton."

Clint smiled as he took her hand and shook it. "Good to meet you, though hopefully next time it will be under less trying circumstances."

Laughing slightly, Pepper answered, "With Tony around? I doubt it."

They both looked at him after that.

"What?" Tony asked.

Pepper spoke before the word was even out of his mouth. "How are you going to get out of the rest of that?"

Tony looked down at himself as Clint confided, "I offered a can opener like a gentleman but he turned me down."

Snorting in amusement, Tony answered Pepper, "I have a few ideas, but we'll need to go where my tools are." He looked at the platform he'd installed in the stage and added, "The unbroken ones."

 

Some time later Tony dragged himself up out of his workshop. Following the promising smell of pizza into the kitchen, he froze on the threshold.

Pepper, Rhodey and Clint were seated at the kitchen table. There were plates in front of each them as well as a free one at the head of the table. The pizza was untouched and conversation stopped as Tony entered the room.

"We wanted to wait for you Tony. Come take a seat," Clint said as he pushed the chair at the head of the table out with his foot.

Hesitating, Tony reluctantly went to sit down, eyeing his soul mate suspiciously the whole time.

"We were just talking about how _noticably different_ you have been acting lately. Why don't you tell them what you _didn't_ tell me?" Clint asked with a smile that reminded Tony of the files he had dug up from SHIELD.

Deadly smiles were sexier when he wasn't the target.

Swallowing and leaning back in his seat, Tony gazed at the pizza longingly.

"I may have encountered a bit--"

"Tony. I'm not going to let you not tell them," Clint warned.

"It sounds serious. Tell us so we can help, Tony," Pepper pleaded and Tony closed his eyes.

Shaking his head, Tony held a hand up to Rhodey when he tried to add in.

"You can't help," Tony told them, shooting Clint a scathing look. "No one can. The arch reactor creates poisonous substances that are leaking into my body." Tapping the casing of it gently Tony finished in a defeated voice, "The device keeping me alive is slowly killing me."

"Oh my God," Pepper said from behind her hand. "Tony."

"Why didn't you say anything about this?" asked Rhodey.

"I thought I could fix it," Tony replied weakly.

"He didn't want to worry you," Clint told them.

"Tony, we want to know these things to help you. Not knowing is worse than worrying," Rhodey explained to him.

"You can't do anything but worry," Tony argued.

"We can make spending time with you our priority. Help you with your goals. We can just--" Pepper sucked in a breath and wiped at her eyes.

Tony was unable do anything but watch as Clint grabbed a tissue box and offered her one.

"We can be here for you," Rhodey finished, placing his hand on Tony's shoulder.

Taking a deep breath as he felt overwhelmed, Tony looked at his friends helplessly. He didn't want to do this to them. He might not survive.

Much later, when they were all more than a little drunk and laughing at a shitty movie, Tony couldn't make himself regret them knowing.

They were here for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, now what do you guys think of Vanko?
> 
> We're actually nearing the finish line now guys! I only have a few more points left to cover (like fixing Tony's rector). Anything you guys really want to see before I'm done?


	17. Loose Ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony ties up loose ends in case of his death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is fully fluff leading up to the next big one.

Clint gently shut the door behind him and switched the phone from his left ear to his right.

"Okay, try repeating that, because I swear I heard you wrong the first time," Clint said into his cell phone.

"I doubt it but fine. Ivan Vanko--the man who attacked Tony at the Stark Expo--went missing when they were switching custody," Natasha repeated.

Covering his eyes with his free hand, Clint tried to think of what to say.

"At least tell me someone interrogated him first," he finally said.

"They had begun to, until it became an issue over who's job it was to actually do the interrogation," Natasha replied.

"You have got to be kidding me," Clint muttered.

"I wouldn't about this Barton," Natasha replied seriously. 

"I know," Clint answered. "Be back here soon if you have no leads Nat. I don't like the odds of any one of us taking this guy on alone."

"I'll be cautious," Natasha told him.

They said their goodbyes and then Clint started pacing. He had to tell Tony, though thankfully his pen pal was still asleep. Clint hadn't had as much to drink as the other three, he wanted to make sure everything went smoothly.

Tony likely wouldn't be hung over since he hadn't drunk that much, but being up most of the night along with drinking meant he hadn't gotten up before Nat had called.

Sighing as he stopped pacing, Clint turned to the door. If he had bad news to deliver he might as well make breakfast to try and make up for it.

 

Tony walked into the kitchen as he was plating the food and humming along with a song. When Tony seemed to hesitate in the doorway, Clint waved him forward and looked up to catch the man's confused expression.

"I was just finishing up," Clint explained. "Pick a seat and then grab what you want."

Eyeing the selection of food to make sure everything was there--bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs, omelette, toast, orange juice, milk, place settings--Clint was satisfied enough to go turn off the stove. "Let James and Pepper know the food is done for me JARVIS."

"Of course, Sir."

"You're absolutely amazing."

Startled, Clint spun to face Tony who was striding towards him.

"You are perfect, and never allowed to leave me," Tony informed him, then grabbed him by the neck and pulled him down into a passionate kiss.

Humming his enjoyment, Clint instinctively grabbed Tony's hips and dragged him flush against his body. Tony made a pleased sound and wound his arms around Clint's shoulders.

A whistle caused them both to jump, and Tony leaned back so they could see James and Pepper coming in.

"Get a room," James called as he took a seat.

"Technically, I own this room. It's my room that I already have. You can feel free to leave it," Tony informed him. He made a shooing gesture at his friend as he leaned into Clint's hold.

"Nope. Not going to happen. There's food in here that I was told I could have. Get another one," James ordered as he reached for the bacon.

Chuckling, Clint hugged Tony then gave him a light push towards the table. "It's better when it's warm," he told his soul mate.

"Fiiiiiine," Tony said, drawing the word out as he went to sit down.

Clint took a seat beside Tony and helped himself to what he wanted. They made small talk as they ate. Clint decided to wait until they were nearing the end of their meal before speaking up.

"The man that attacked us yesterday escaped," Clint said casually, causing the other three to freeze.

"What do you mean he escaped?" Pepper demanded.

Pausing, Clint set aside his cutlery and met her eyes.

"I'm not any happier about it than you are," Clint informed her. "The man's name is Ivan Vanko. While the police were giving custody of him over to another agency he disappeared. Natasha is out following leads," Clint directed the last to Tony. "I'm going to stick to you until she returns."

"And long after that if I can help it," Tony added, tapping a finger against the reactor in his chest.

His smile was a bit forced as Clint looked into his soul mate's eyes. "I'll have other missions," he reminded Tony.

"I'll take what I can get," Tony answered seriously.

"What should we do now?" James asked.

There was a pause in conversation at that point.

"I can do most of my work from here. There shouldn't be many things that I can't do, though I will need to be there personally for a few meetings. I'll have to drop by the office today to prepare," Pepper put in.

"I'll take a leave of absence from work for a while, family emergency. They can spare me a few days," James told them.

Everyone looked to Tony, who was studying the table.

"Finish eating, then meet me in the workshop," he said slowly, then gazed at each of them in turn. "I have some things for you."

 

Shortly after that they made their way down to Tony's work area. Clint expected it to be impressive and he wasn't disappointed.

The work stations had a few half completed projects on the benches, with monitors above them that seemed pulled from a science fiction movie. There were cars stored to one side and Iron Man armours on the other.

Whistling in amazement, Clint made his way over to one of the armours. Instead of the red and gold he was used to it was entirely grey.

"I'll get to that," Tony called after Clint. "I want to have Pepper's handled first."

Shrugging a shoulder, Clint wandered back over. He leaned a hip on a work bench as he watched his soul mate and his friends.

"Pepper, you've been running my company for a while now," Tony told her.

"Yes, I know," she answered, smiling slightly.

"Well, I want you to continue to do so," he said.

Pepper frowned. "Alright."

"No, you don't get it," Tony said with a grin. "I'm making you CEO."

Her eyes widened in shock. "Tony, I-- I don't know what to say."

"Say yes, and the company's yours. There are no legal issues, I checked. It turns out I can choose my successor, that person being you," Tony explained to her as she grew visibly more emotional.

Pepper had her hands pressed to her mouth as her eyes watered. Clint went to get her tissues as Tony brought out documents for her to sign.

Offering her a tissue got him a teary smile. Pepper signed the documents and gave Tony a tight hug.

"Rhodey's turn," Tony announced, then headed towards his armours.

"I doubt it will be as good as Pepper's," James answered, sounding fond.

Tony clasped a hand to his heart as he spun to face them. "How could you doubt me honey bunch?" He waved his hand at the grey armour. "J, open it up."

James's arms instantly went from crossed to dropping to his sides. "No way," he said incredulously.

"Way," Tony replied with a grin as the grey armour stepped out of the case. Arms moved it to the platform that put it on. "It's all yours."

"Yes!" James exclaimed and raced over to get in it.

The other three laughed at the sight.

Tony picked something up then made his way to Clint's side.

"Yours is less flashy than theirs," Tony sounded apologetic.

"Good, I don't want a company and I don't want to clunk around like a medieval knight. I tried jousting once, it wasn't for me," Clint replied with a grin.

Chuckling, Tony started to pull what looked like clothing out of the bag. "I made you body armour. It's flexible enough that it shouldn't get in the way of your bow, and it will give you more protection than what you have now."

Clint stared at the gift with wide eyes, then touched it gently, as if it'd disappear.

"I have it in other colours," Tony continued nervously. "I--"

"Tony, this is amazing," Clint announced. He pulled his soul mate into a deep kiss. "Thank you."

"Hey, Stark! Stop kissing your boyfriend and get in a suit. You have to teach me how it works," James ordered, causing Clint to laugh.

"Go, have fun. I'll try this on," Clint told his soul mate, holding up the torso section.

Tony smiled and headed over to James as Clint watched.

Hopefully they would continue to find ways to make his soul mate smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so close to the end! I'm so excited!


	18. Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets information, most of it unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are a lot of intersecting points from cannon at this point, so I borrowed some bits. It should be different enough that you'll enjoy it all though.

After Ivan's escape act, they had managed to dig up some information on him. Some had been brought to light by SHIELD.

Anton Vanko, Ivan's father, had been working together with Howard on the arch reactor technology. Where Howard had seen it as a step forward in energy, Anton Vanko had seen it as the next big payout. Anton had been caught trying to sell the blue-prints for a tidy profit, and been deported to Russia for it. 

In Ivan's case the apple didn't fall far from the tree, he'd been arrested for illegally selling palladium and imprisoned. He had been released just in time to be around when his father died. 

Seeing Tony on TV after he announced he was Iron Man must have galvanized Ivan into action. Grief did strange things to people.

That didn't explain how he had gotten in the country but they couldn't exactly question him on it, or the soulmate they suspected him to have.

 

When Nick Fury and Coulson showed up with items for him, Tony was half tempted to leave them out on the figurative doorstep.

It was like the parents coming over for a visit after he'd just managed to start dating his boyfriend... Saying he was reluctant to see them was an understatement.

“Come on Tony, they've even brought you presents,” Clint persuaded.

Eyeing his soul mate, Tony told him, “Fine but you owe me for it later.”

Grinning as Tony gave orders to JARVIS to let them in, Clint ambled over to the door. Tony eyed his lover's ass. Enough days had passed that they'd finally gotten acquainted with a bed at the same time, though Clint had insisted they keep any activity in the bedroom soft in difference to his health.

Tony watched the three SHIELD Agents enter his livingroom as he stood by the windows with open curiosity. Coulson carried a rather large case that looked fairly heavy, while whatever Fury held was passed over to Clint.

After greetings were out of the way, Fury jumped right into it, “What you're probably unaware of is that your father was one of the founding members of SHIELD.”

“You're kidding,” Tony said, but was ignored as Fury continued.

“He left some information with us for you. Howard said he was onto something that would start an energy race that would dwarf the arms race. He said that only you had the means and knowledge to complete his work.”

“Now you must be joking. That man's happiest day was sending me off to boarding school,” Tony challenged.

“No, it wasn't,” Fury replied.

“Howard was cold, calculating and distant. He never showed any caring towards me at all,” Tony argued as he eyed the case Coulson had brought closer to him and set down.

“Maybe not, but that doesn't mean he didn't care,” Fury answered.

“You must have known him better than I did,” Tony snapped back.

“As a matter of fact I did,” Fury rejoined. “But that isn't the only reason I'm here.” 

The Director of SHIELD gestured to Clint, who Tony turned to and instantly flinched back from.

Clint was holding a needle out towards him, any sane person would have winced when confronted by an unexpected needle... Tony still felt bad.

“Fuck, what's that for, exactly?” Tony's tone started out demanding and ended weakly, guilt kicking in as he met his soul mate's eyes.

Tilting his own head, Clint touched his neck where the black lines now extended to. “It'll help with the road map the both of us are plastered with. The injection should go into a major vein so I can stab you in the neck if you don't co-operate or we can pick a more comfortable one so I don't have to go all ninja on you.”

Snorting a bit, Tony's eyes didn't leave Clint's neck. “I'll co-operate after the super spies leave.”

“That's your cue then,” Clint said, turning to Fury and Coulson.

They said their goodbyes and disappeared to whatever sneaky stuff they occupied their time with. They sat on the couch for Clint to administer the needle. The relief he felt as it worked was instantaneous. Clint took Tony's chin in hand and tilted his head.

“The black is fading, looks like it works,” Clint told him.

Tony eyed Clint's neck, where there was still black. “Are you sure? Your lines aren't going away.”

Releasing Tony's face, Clint put a hand over the marks on his neck. “I--” He sighed. “I've been tracing the darker ones with pen. I was thinking of getting it inked if you...you know.”

Tony instantly rounded on his soul mate. “No, you are not doing that.” Grabbing Clint's arm, he dragged the other man towards the bathroom.

“Tony?”

“We are getting rid of all of the ink you used to trace the black lines. You're not allowed to retrace them. I mean it Clint,” Tony ordered as he forcefully shut the bathroom door and pressed himself up in Clint's face. “You will not remember me by this,” he told the other man, tracing a finger around the reactor. “If you want something to remember me by you get a tattoo of Iron Man. Don't you dare do anything related to the poison or I will come back and haunt your ass.”

Clint stared at him a moment, then grabbed Tony and turned to slam him against the bathroom counter. His lips were far from gentle as they took Tony's in a kiss.

“Don't you dare die,” Clint ordered as he pulled back, then he set his teeth to Tony's neck and sucked where the marks had been.

“I won't,” Tony gasped out.

There wasn't much talking after that.

 

About an hour later, with some actual showering done as well, Tony was going through the information Howard had left for him. He was skeptical anything would come of it. Clint had insisted on helping him go through it, even if it was only as moral support as the old recordings played in the background.

When one tape came on addressing Tony himself, he was surprised.

"Tony," Howard said, "you're too young to understand this, so I thought that I would put it on film. I built this,” he informed Tony, while gesturing at the model he was leaning against, “for you. One day you will understand that this is more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future,” he told them, as the film showed flashes of the model behind him and the arch reactor that had powered a Stark factory. “I am a man limited by my time. The tools I have access to are not as advanced as the ones you will have available to you. But you can figure this out. When you do, you will change the world. Remember, out of all of my work, you were my greatest creation."

Clint snorted at Howard's words. "Yeah, objectify your son, as if we didn't just watch you chase him out of your work space ten seconds ago." He threw popcorn at the screen. “The cheesy hints aren't much better.”

Tony didn't feel the need to comment. Howard may have been a brilliant inventor but all Tony had gotten from him were genes and money.

Still, that moment in the film had been unusual.

"J, record that entry for later review. Start from where he speaks to me directly and end when the scene does," Tony explained.

"Already done, Sir," JARVIS replied.

Clint eyed him for a moment then asked, "You think he was trying to tell you something?"

Lowering the documents he had been looking through, Tony met Clint's gaze. "Besides boosting his own ego? Possibly. The man helped found your spy organization. Half his work I didn't even know about. He didn't exactly share a lot with me," Tony told his soul mate, tapping the files against his leg.

Shaking his head Clint said, "I don't understand why. You're an interesting man, and it's easy to see you were an interesting kid. Howard didn't keep the media from you as a child so anyone could figure that out if they looked."

Tony found himself blushing a bit, then he frowned. "I was never good enough...But that isn't the point. There might be something in here that could actually help me."

Silence met his little confession, before Clint said, "Alright. JARVIS, replay the part Tony told you to record. I'm from SHIELD, maybe I'll have some insight to what he's trying to say."

"Be my guest," Tony replied, scowling at Howard's schematics from Hydra weapons.

The power source may have made more sense to Tony if he'd seen the weapons themselves. As it stood, the designs seemed to baffle Howard which made it impossible to properly grasp what the things were supposed to be. It almost looked like a precursor to the energy they used in the large arch reactor which had been the basis for the one in Tony's chest.

Looking up as the scene flashed between the model behind Howard and the arch reactor he had destroyed to stop Obadiah Stane, Tony frowned. If the model was so all important he might as well see if he could find it.

“JARVIS, where is the model Howard's standing in front of in the film now?” Tony questioned.

“I believe it is located in Stark building here in our New York offices,” JARVIS answered.

“Give Pepper a call for me, would you?” Tony asked as he saw his soul mate shift towards him.

Pausing the film playing, JARVIS answered, “Of course, sir.”

They could hear the phone ringing before it went to voicemail. 

“Hey, Pep. The one-eyed pirate was by and left me some of Howard's stuff. The man thinks his model for the Stark convention is 'very important' and it might have to do with me not dying so could you have it brought to the mansion. Also, bring pizza when you swing by tonight--”

“Ignore the last part Pepper, I'll make us supper. See you soon,” Clint cut in and signaled to JARVIS to cut the call.

“Hey!” Tony objected as JARVIS made a sound indicating he had followed Clint's instructions. “Pizza would be perfect for my concentration.”

Snorting, Clint disagreed, “Pizza is greasy when you order it from restaurants. I'll make you something better.”

Getting up, Clint made his way towards the kitchen, and Tony found himself trailing behind.

Cooking was never something Tony had any success with. He was too easily distracted at key moments. It wouldn't hold his attention like technology could. Still, he found he enjoyed being in the room while Clint cooked.

Pulling out a bar stool, Tony sat at the bar between the kitchen and dining room. The open floor plans gave him a good view of his soul mate while he worked on his Stark tablet.

After they had finished the meal Clint had prepared, JARVIS announced a delivery out front for them. They had the truck drive into the workshop where they unloaded the model before seeing the deliveryman off. It took very little time to have it assembled.

Staring at it, Tony couldn't see what all the fuss had been about.

Clapping his hands together, Tony turned away and began, “Well, the old man was--” and stopped.

Spinning back around, he covered one eye with his hand and stared at it again. It couldn't be...

“Tony?” Clint questioned.

“JARVIS, could you kindly form a digital wire-frame of this? I need a manipulable projection,” Tony informed his AI. He patted Clint's shoulder as he watched JARVIS forming the 3D model. The lights dimmed to make viewing it easier.

“Scan complete,” JARVIS informed him and Tony lifted the 3D model.

Moving it to where he could grab a seat, Tony manipulated the image until it formed an atom.

“Congratulations sir, you have created a new element,” JARVIS informed him.

“No, just rediscovered. Dead for decades and he's still taking me to school,” Tony said with a laugh as Clint rested his hand on Tony's shoulder.

Reaching up to put his hand on Clint's they both listened as JARVIS told them it was a viable replacement for the palladium core.

“Unfortunately, it cannot be synthesized,” JARVIS added.

“Uh-huh,” Tony said, unsurprised. If it could be synthesized someone else would have discovered it by now. 

Scanning his work space as he got up, Tony looked around. “Get ready for some remodelling guys, looks like we're back in hardware mode.” 

Dum-E watched Tony's motions closely, the sounds he made almost a question.

“Any way I can help?” Clint asked.

“Grab a hammer,” Tony answered with a grin, feeling energized.

 

Sometime during their construction Pepper stopped by to eat the take-out Clint had made JARVIS order when he refused to leave the workshop to cook.

“You've certainly been busy,” she commented as she eyed the newly made holes in the walls and the tubing around the room.

“We're well on our way to solving the current problem,” Tony said proudly, tapping his arch reactor.

“You're looking better too,” Pepper added, coming closer to eye his neck.

Tony rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. “Clint can be credited with that.”

Walking over to his soul mate, Pepper gave Clint a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you,” she said as his soul mate blushed adorably.

“You're welcome, though I didn't come up with the solution myself,” Clint added.

“You helped make it happen,” Tony argued.

Clint just smiled and shook his head.

“I need to get going,” Pepper put in, dusting off her hands. “Hammer's putting on an appearance at the Expo. I need to make sure we don't get hit with another disaster.”

“I doubt he'll make as much mess as Tony's appearance did,” Clint joked.

“I wouldn't put it past him,” Tony added dryly as he came over to Pepper. “Be careful, his tech is unreliable at best.”

“I know, that's why I'll be there to make sure he doesn't add to the smear campaign against you,” Pepper told him, giving him a small smile.

“I wish this wasn't all on your shoulders,” Tony replied softly.

“It isn't,” Pepper answered. “I'm doing what I can to make your job easier. I expected to get grey hairs from my time with you Tony, don't disappoint.”

“Is that all, Ms Potts?” Tony teased.

“That will be all, Mr Stark,” Pepper replied with a watery smile, before turning to leave. “Good luck boys.”

Interruption over, they set to work on the particle accelerator. Once the new element was complete, and half the workshop destroyed from the laser, the soul mate pair sat back to stare at the glowing triangle of the new reactor.

“Excuse me sir, but it seems some of my protocols are being overridden,” JARVIS interrupted their quiet moment.

Sharing a look with Clint as he heard his ring tone for blocked numbers, Tony stared at the call coming in.

“Track it, JARVIS,” Tony ordered then, unable to help himself, he hit answer. “Uh, hello?”

“Tony!” Clint hissed.

Tony waved his soul mate off as he listened to the voice on the other end.

“Hey, Tony!” the heavily accented voice greeted, making Tony freeze. “How ya doin?”

“Who's this?” Tony asked, thinking he knew exactly who but wanting to be sure.

“You can make guess,” the Russian guy said with a laugh. “Palladium poisoning from the reactor, painful way to die.”

“Spending your life in hiding is no way to live,” Tony rejoined.

The other man laughed as Tony muted the call and asked Clint, “Vanko?”

“Sounds like him,” Clint answered

“No matter,” the man continued. “What your family did to mine in forty years, I will do to you in forty minutes. Try to stop me,” Ivan dared, then hung up.

The trace on the phone line stopped abruptly. “Unable to complete trace, it is somewhere in Manhattan.”

Tony scanned the data they had gathered, but it was Clint who said, “Hammer.”

They shared a look before Clint raced to where his gear was.

Ivan Vanko was using Hammer Tech and Pepper was at a demonstration with Justin Hammer's latest inventions. There was no way it wasn't connected.

“Shall I contact Colonel Rhodes?” JARVIS asked.

“Yes,” Tony answered as he strode over to the new reactor. “Make the call after we get this new bad boy installed.”

“Tony?” Clint asked as JARVIS said, “Sir, it hasn't been tested.”

“We don't have time,” Tony answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had a couple people ask so I decided to clarify here for others who might be curious.  
> I don't plan on extending this story past IM2. If I were to tackle Avengers with this AU it'd be angsty, since Clint is an integral part to that plot and he's brain washed the entire time. Not really something I'd enjoy.  
> If I do revisit this Universe it will be with different pairs that interest me. I do plan on doing when Natasha and Clint met and became friends because a friend requested it. If you're interested in that and any future stories in this Universe, feel free to subscribe to the series I'm setting up for this story.


	19. Fighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is better with explosions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Sorry if you guys got the earlier notification only to find I had deleted the chapter. There were several errors I needed to correct before putting it back up)
> 
> I have been horribly sick the past weeks. That and stupid yearly meetings/reviews made it difficult to feel up to writing. I only got back to it today.
> 
> We do have perspective changes from Clint to Tony in this chapter, just a heads up.

This was not how this evening should be going. 

Tapping the steering wheel with his thumbs as he listened to the phone ring Clint bit back the urge to curse as his call to Nat went through to voicemail again.

Tony had been able to reach Rhodes, the Lt. Colonel had agreed to meet Tony in the air above the Expo.

Thankfully the military had decided to put the armour, with modifications, through its paces before deployment.

Knowing that finding a space close to the building would be impossible, Clint ignored that where he stopped wasn't a parking space and jumped out of the car.

“How's that new reactor holding up?” Clint asked as he glanced up to where he could see Iron Man hovering above the Expo building.

“As well as anything invented by me ever does,” Tony bragged back through the com in his ear. Clint snorted as Tony asked more seriously, “Were you able to reach Natasha?”

“No, and I'm assuming you had no more luck with Pepper,” Clint replied as he scaled the side of a building next to the main one.

“Being professionals they likely shut their phones off for Hammer's little performance,” Tony answered.

“I don't think that's the reason. Nat wouldn't want to be out of contact even while being Pepper's bodyguard for this,” he argued as he climbed atop a cooling unit and leapt for a ledge.

“Watching you is like James Bond meets monkeys with a jungle gym. Need any help there Legolas?” Tony asked.

“Iron Man, focus,” Clint answered as he swung himself onto the roof of the Expo building.

“I am focused; on not wanting anyone to get hurt. That does include you. Besides, I have JARVIS's scanners on the whole presentation going on. Hammer's performance is as lack-luster as usual,” Tony commented.

Holding back a retort, Clint made his way to the edge of the glass roof that held the stage. He caught sight of Hammer and the...were those armours on the stage with him?

“Tony, what are those things he's in front of?” Clint questioned as he strode along the edge of the roof. The edge was about two feet of metal around the perimeter and would make a perfect vantage point.

“They seem to be Iron Man rip-offs as drones,” Tony replied.

“Proof Vanko helped Hammer out?” Clint asked.

“I—shit,” Tony cut himself off and dove in through the roof as the forty eight drones started moving. “Everybody out!” Iron Man's speakers boomed as he took up a stance between the crowd and the drones.

“Tony! What are you doing?” Clint heard Hammer demand as he knocked an arrow.

“Protecting people from your crazy stunts, as usual,” Tony answered, hands raised defensively.

Hammer started to reply but the drones started firing. The shots and screams were loud enough to drown even his voice out.

Clint let loose one of his arrows, resulting in the explosion of one of the drones. Iron Man took off to avoid being blown up by all the guns aimed at him. 

A quarter of the drones took to the air to follow him. Seeing he had their attention, Iron Man jetted back out of the building.

Focusing on the ones still on the ground, Clint did his best to keep them away from civilians. This, of course, drew attention.

Six of the drones turned to aim at him.

' _Shit_ ,' Clint had time to think before he dodged to the side. 

Explosions went off where he had been.

The shock wave made him to lose his balance.

Scrambling at the ledge, Clint managed to grasp it; Making himself the perfect target for the drones below him.

He was far more likely to survive the fall than a direct hit.

Clint let go, curling his body protectively.

A high pitched whine was followed by a jarring impact along his side.

“Fuck!” Clint exclaimed with the breath left in his lungs.

“I see what Natasha meant by you jumping off of things,” Tony told him with his arms wrapped securely around his soul mate.

“Not my fault,” Clint huffed. “Put me down,” he ordered as the fire from a drone rocked the armour.

“If you insist, dearest,” Tony returned, leaving him on top of a building. “Try not to fall off this one.”

“I didn't fall off the last one,” Clint shot back, quickly drawing and firing. One of the drones following Tony blew up as a result.

“Of course, dear,” Tony taunted.

Rolling his eyes, Clint turned his attention to the drones on the ground.

“Any idea where these things are being controlled from?” Clint asked.

“JARVIS hasn't been able to hack in. It seems like Hammer has had some upgrades,” Tony replied.

Firing off an arrow that electrocuted one of the drones, Clint added, “Not that I'm not enjoying myself, but when will our back-up arrive?”

He was able to take out two more drones before his location was compromised again.

“Rhodey is a couple minutes out, I don't know where your pet assassin is,” Tony replied.

“Don't call her that where she can hear you, she might stab you with something. On second thought, do it when I'm in the room. I want to watch,” Clint finished, then made a running jump for the nearest rooftop. 

Grunting with the impact, Clint rolled to his feet and took aim again.

“Sadist!” Tony accused.

“If the shoe fits,” Clint replied mildly, then shot three more drones in rapid succession.

Tony laughed and then there was an explosion which led to Tony swearing.

“Do you need me to rescue you this time, damsel?” Clint asked.

“I think I've got this,” Tony answered in a strained voice. There were a series of explosions after his words, lighting up the hollow globe in the centre of the complex.

“Also, fuck you,” Tony added absently as Clint whistled.

Laughing, Clint quickly let fly more arrows, cleanly taking the head off a drone and the turret of another.

Tony flew in and grabbed Clint as the remaining drones took aim at him, flying off with him.

“I didn't need rescuing that time!” Clint exclaimed, flailing back and hitting the armour behind him on the shoulder.

Tony gasped. “Now I have proof of your sadism, you're beating on me.”

“Baby!” Clint accused.

“Children, do I need to separate you?”

“Natasha!” Clint called out in recognition.

“How's our favourite, spider?” Tony asked as he set Clint down in a park.

“Clever,” Natasha replied dryly. “I'm at the facility Vanko was being held at. He left some gifts, but isn't present himself.”

“Any idea where he could be?” Clint questioned as he made his way over to the highest vantage point.

“No, but I can work on shutting his drones down from here,” Natasha announced.

“I think we've got it covered,” Tony answered.

Clint concurred, “See if he left any clues on his whereabouts behind.” 

“I can do that,” Natasha answered as Clint heard the trees rustling around him.

“Incoming,” Tony announced rather unnecessarily.

Shaking his head, Clint crouched down and knocked another arrow.

As he took aim Clint heard a distinctive high pitched whine of repulsors. Knowing it was their back-up, Clint didn't bother to look up.

“I see you started the party without me,” Rhodes cut in.

Clint put down a drone with an arrow as Tony got another with his repulsors.

“You came just in time for the grand finale,” Tony told him.

“I guess I can cope with that,” Rhodes replied as he cut through two drones and landed beside Tony.

Rhodes' guns took a while to eat through the armoured drones as Tony punched out his targets. 

Clint took out a couple more with his remaining explosive arrow. 

A drone landed directly next to him.

Spinning at it as he dodged fire, Clint stabbed it with an electric arrow and took cover.

He was able to knock off the turret of another drone as Rhodes and Tony cut through more, side by side.

There was an explosion and Tony asked, “Did you see that?”

“Nope,” Clint answered even as Rhodes said yes.

“Hey!” Tony said, “And they call you Hawkeye.”

Clint snickered as he took out another drone, he had seen it but wanted to hear Tony's reaction.

Tony cussed at him, realizing he'd lied.

“Duck!” Tony ordered as they were surrounded.

Clint hit the ground instinctively as Rhodes did the same below. Tony fired lasers in a devastating circle, cutting the last of the drones down.

“Nice,” Rhodes announced. “I would say lead with that next time, but there wouldn't have been any left for me at all.”

“I can only do it once,” Tony admitted as his armour ejected the casing for the weapon.

“Gentlemen, we may have a problem. There are two of those things headed to your location,” Natasha told them seriously.

“Just two?” Clint asked tiredly, leaning on a tree as he looked at the destruction all around them.

“These aren't the same as the others. The signature's different. You might have your hands full,” Natasha answered.

“I think I see one,” Tony said and Clint followed his line of sight, taking aim with an arrow.

“The second is behind it,” Clint added, moving behind cover.

The large robots landed with a bang. The bigger one's face plate snapped down to reveal the smirking expression of Ivan Vanko.

“Good to be back,” he said, then whipped his hands to either side. Out came the two electric whips from before.

“Who's your buddy?” Tony questioned, taking up a threatening stance.

“Wouldn't you like to know,” Vanko asked with amusement.

“Stand back, I got this,” Rhodes ordered, stepping forward. 

The plates of his armour slid back to reveal a weapon in its shoulder. It powered up with intimidating beeps while Vanko watched on with his smile.

“Guys?” Clint questioned as Rhodes' weapon fired.

The clink of the bullet hitting was anticlimactic.

“Hammer tech?” Tony questioned.

“Yeah,” Rhodes confessed as Clint resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“My turn,” Tony interjected, then fired off his own shots.

Vanko's face plate snapped shut before the bullets landed, making them ping off harmlessly.

Clint fired an arrow at the smaller armour. 

Electricity arched from where it hit, causing the armour to flinch before the user reached up and snapped it off.

Colonel Rhodes had no more luck with his bullets, though Vanko did raise his arm to keep them from hitting anything vital.

Swinging his whip caused Tony to take to the air to dodge.

Clint lost track of their actions as the second armour aimed at him with an arm.

“Shit,” Clint swore as something fired.

Leaping to one side, Clint was sprayed with chunks of rock and dirt.

Tony punched the smaller armour in the head, but then was hit out of the air with one of Vanko's whips.

The smaller armour turned to fire at Rhodes, giving Clint the opportunity to slow Vanko down with an electric arrow.

The small one rounded on him again as Tony tried beating on Vanko with his fists.

Seconds later the small armour came flying at him.

Clint hit the ground and rolled over to stab it with another arrow as it flew by.

Metal screeched and sparks flew, but even at the joints Clint didn't seem to hit anything vital.

The thing landed then launched itself at him again. 

Springing off the rock he'd used as cover, Clint scrambled away.

Rock crumbled under the armour's impact, a large chunk hitting Clint in the side.

Swearing seemed to catch attention, since Rhodes hit the smaller armour with a hail of bullets.

This caught the pilot's attention, but little else.

“We need to do more than tickle them,” Clint wheezed as he stumbled behind more cover.

“I'm open--” Rhodes cut off with a grunt as Clint's hiding rock was destroyed by a whip.

“--for suggestions,” Rhodes finished.

Clint spotted the whip around the grey armour's neck, one similarly around Tony's.

“We could also try aiming for each other,” Tony supplied. 

Instantly knowing what Tony meant, Clint said, “Oh hell.”

“I don't think we need to add to our problems Tony,” Rhodes argued.

“You guys sure do one hell of a high five,” Clint answered, remembering the explosion it had caused when they had tested what would happen when they fired repulsors directly at the others'.

“Are you sure about this?” Rhodes questioned as Clint heard each of their repulsors firing up.

Knowing he needed to be out of the blast radius, Clint took off.

“Yep, ready when you are buddy,” Tony replied.

“Don't worry about me,” Clint added.

“Take cover Robin Hood,” Tony warned.

Heeding the advice, Clint jumped behind a rock ledge just as the explosion went off.

The shock wave knocked the wind out of him even from his location.

As the dust settled, Clint climbed atop the rock with difficulty. Looking over all the flattened trees, Clint ruefully thought they'd need to do some redecorating.

He watched as Tony walked over to the downed armour that contained Vanko. The smaller armour had Rhodes' attention.

Suddenly, the was a beeping sound. It was echoed by all the drones lying around with the flash of red lights.

“Clint!” Tony shouted, grabbing him and flying off. “Where's Pepper?”

“Natasha, is Pepper with you?” Clint demanded through his com.

“Yes, those things are rigged to blow, get out of there!”

“Pepper's with Nat!” Clint explained as Tony carted him off yet again.

The next boom rocked the armour in the air hard enough for Clint to bash his head against it.

Landing on the nearest rooftop was far from smooth as Tony dropped him.

Staggering to his feet, Clint swore. He could no longer hear anything at all. The explosion must have fried his hearing aids.

Sighing in resignation, Clint crossed his arms and tapped his foot testily. He was going to be so sore in the morning and he couldn't hear anything.

The touch on his shoulder made Clint jump and spin away. Automatically pulling a knife against the threat, he only belatedly realized it was Tony.

Tony, who was backing away with his helmet off, face the picture of confusion and hands raised in a show of peace.

Blowing out a breath, Clint sheathed his knife and said, “I can't hear anything at all, sorry.”

Tony looked more confused for a moment, then his expression cleared as he gestured to his ear.

Nodding warily, Clint slowly stood up.

 

***********************************************************************************

 

Tony carefully took his soul mate's shoulders in his hands. The other man's face was covered in scratches and he looked like he had tried bathing in dirt. When their eyes met though, Tony found himself smiling.

Leaning down, Tony kissed Clint gently.

Clearly having none of that, Clint grabbed him by the neck and kissed him back passionately.

Blood heating, Tony found himself following his soul mate's lead, reeling him closer by the hip though seemed to be a bad idea.

Flinching away from Tony's touch with a pained sound, Clint leaned into him.

Wishing he could ask what was wrong, Tony held him.

“You know, you should probably get that looked at,” Rhodey put in, causing Tony to jump and turn to look at his friend.

In his arms, Clint went tense and spun around. He ended up knocking his knees against the armour and hissing in pain.

“He can't hear you,” Tony informed his friend.

“Ah, well.” Rhodey looked sheepish. “All the more reason to get him home. I'll stop in when you aren't busy,” Rhodey added with a suggestive grin, then his helmet snapped shut as he rocketed off.

Facing Clint once again, Tony eyed his soul mate.

Clint met his look and studied him.

Gently, Tony picked Clint up. Though the other man frowned, he let the actions happen. After Clint slung one arm around him, Tony carefully took off.

Flying slowly, Tony enjoyed the breeze and the knowledge that he was no longer dying. He was certain Pepper would handle the clean up. His CEO wouldn't be happy about it, but there were no better hands for the work.

Once they made it back to the workshop, Tony went for the side project he had been working on. The other night he had gotten Clint to show him his hearing aids. He'd been hoping to surprise his soul mate with the new ones. Now seemed like a good time for it.

Pulling out the box, Tony clunked over to his soul mate, who was standing in front of one of Tony's displays with his arms crossed.

Catching Clint's attention, Tony offered the replacement hearing aids to him.

Brightening instantly, Clint took out his current pair and switched them.

Tony waited patiently as Clint worked.

“That is so much better!” Clint exclaimed, then jumped him with a hug.

Chuckling as he hugged back, Tony answered, “I'm glad you like them.”

“Now get out of this thing so I can see you properly,” Clint ordered, stepping back.

Grinning, Tony wiggled his eyebrows as he met Clint's eyes. “Does seeing include touching?”

Laughing, Clint wrapped an arm around his ribs, “Gentle ones maybe, but I'm admittedly not up for much.”

“I'll take what I can get,” Tony answered with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, only one chapter left! This next one will wrap things up and give you an idea of what these guys will be up to in the future.
> 
> Did you enjoy the fight scenes?  
> Anyone want to know about Vanko's accomplice? Since the person is supposed to be dead, I'm not sure it's necessary to add much info. The other pilot is a developed character, just not shown much in my story here.


	20. And They All Lived Happily Ever After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it says at the top.

Natasha sat with her legs crossed as her eyes went from Tony and back to Clint. 

She shook her head, causing her red curls to bounce as she told them, “None of this is official, just things I picked up from SHIELD files.”

“So we didn't hear it from you. We get it Bride. Share what you've got and I'll give you a present before you leave,” Tony persuaded.

Natasha stared at Tony in a way that made Clint wonder if she was measuring him for a coffin before she started talking again. “There's speculation that the pilot of the second armour was female. There was no one inside the armour itself from what those on the scene could tell, but there was a shoe left inside the left boot that belonged to a woman's shoe company. We knew Ivan Vanko needed an accomplice to get in the country, this woman must have been his sponsor.”

“Think it was possible they were soul mates at the time?” Clint asked her.

She gave a delicate shrug of her shoulders as she met his eyes. “It's possible, but we have no supporting evidence. Given that she got him here she must have enough influence or money to get him in. Beyond that it's merely speculation.”

Tony leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. “I'm assuming the government is shutting down Hammer Industries, judging by the arrest of Justin Hammer himself.”

Natasha met Tony's eyes and inclined her head, though she neither confirmed nor denied his statement.

“Any big officials missing who could have wound up as dead as Vanko? Surely if this second person is dead there'd be some signs,” Clint added.

“None that we've been able to catch thus far. Not everyone with power is in the spotlight though,” Natasha reminded him.

Nodding and sighing, Clint put it from his mind and turned to face Tony on the couch. “So, you going to want to join me on missions now?” Clint questioned with a half smirk.

Raising his eyebrows, Tony faced him. “Can I trust you not to fall off buildings during your missions?”

Making a pained sound Clint grabbed at his chest. “You wound me. It hurts.” Facing Natasha Clint appealed to her compassion. “You know I don't fall off buildings Natasha, tell him.”

“No, you've said it yourself,” Natasha answered dryly. 

“See!” Clint crowed as he turned to Tony.

“You jump off of them,” Natasha finished with an unholy smirk.

Clint sputtered as Tony and Natasha both laughed.

“Fury did offer to take you on for on case by case basis,” Natasha told Tony more seriously. “It'd be probationary, if you mess it up he wouldn't be knocking at your door for more help.”

Eyeing Natasha speculatively, Tony asked, “What about the Avenger's Initiative?”

Rolling her eyes, Natasha tapped her fingers on her leg. “Yes, bring up files you only got by hacking into our data base. They did root out your subroutines so you won't be getting any more information. I wouldn't try it again or they might actually discover the culprit this time,” Natasha warned.

“Hey! You've done it too,” Tony accused.

Natasha smirked but Clint didn't want the topic to get derailed so he said, “The Avenger's Initiative was scrapped. The people they wanted for the team don't mesh well with others.” He and Natasha shared a look of understanding. “So the big boys up top don't want to see all of them thrown together.”

Tony looked between the two of them, clearly confused. “Weren't you two considered for it?”

“I'm not the best team player,” Clint confessed with a sheepish grin.

“I work best alone,” Natasha informed him while she checked her nails with an unconcerned air.

“We've partnered before, but only on select missions,” Clint continued.

“We could prove them wrong,” Tony said stubbornly, causing Clint to smile at him.

Glancing over he caught Natasha's fond look at his soul mate.

“Maybe,” Clint said, then decided to change the subject. “You said you had a present for Natasha. I want to see it before I fly off to New Mexico.”

Tony pouted at him, then got up. “Don't remind me you're leaving, that's just mean.”

“You know I'll always come back,” Clint answered, trailing after his soul mate.

Spinning around, Tony grabbed him and kissed him hard.

“You better.”

Clint was perfectly content to watch Tony show off the widow bites he'd made for Natasha.

The future was bright.

He could face whatever it brought with this man by his side. Together they could beat whatever the world could throw at them.

Or any other...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I am done! 
> 
> I know this one wasn't long but I think it ties everything up well. Feel free to comment with any further questions you have!
> 
> I'm thinking about doing a story with Natasha and Clint in this Universe from where they met and how they became soul mates for a while. I'm also thinking of doing one with Bucky and Wade Wilson as soul mates because the idea entertains me. Any other suggestions? I can't promise I'll do the story but I would love to hear ideas for this universe!
> 
> Also! Any comments about this story in general I would absolutely adore. Did you like the ending?


End file.
